Kiss It Goodbye DC Residents

Put your head between your legs and just kiss it! Just kiss it! Not a way to live but its a way leading to your untimely death. We can't let that happen to you. Others might not be concerned but we want you to live. We're not doctors, we're not politicians, we're not medical professionals. We leave that to others. We find and verify the information and their sources and bring the news to you. Sometimes we do reach conclusions not always supported by the data. We'll admit the above is not a foregone conclusion but... You'll see later in the story.

"Although heart disease, cancer, and cerebrovascular diseases are the top three leading reported causes of death in the United States1 (54 percent of all deaths) as well as in the District of Columbia (52.7 percent of all deaths) in 2007, research has shown that approximately one-half of all deaths nationally are actually due to preventable causes. These preventable causes of death, defined by McGinnis and Foege in 19932, include tobacco/smoking, poor diet, physical inactivity, alcohol, microbial (infectious) agents, toxic agents, firearms, motor vehicle, sexual behavior, and illicit drug use, as well as two additional causes (uninsurance and medical errors) identified by the Institute of Medicine and applied by the state of Wisconsin." - DC Department of Health (DCDOH)

It doesn't matter what's happening nation wide if its not reflected locally. What matters is what's happening in your area, in your city, jurisdiction, state or town where you live is what concerns us. Shouldn't that concern those who are responsible for taking care of us? We think it should.

This is what we've been saying. From last month's Black History Month story we said: "What we should learn from this African American History Month is that the history of the FDA is too little critical health information provided too late. If history of the African American experience tells us anything is that to wait can be too late." From the news that there are other places in the United States where you can have a better quality of life and care we said: "Every jurisdiction needs to aim higher than Hawaii's Kauai which most certainly will be aiming to continue to be the best in the nation." While we said that the Mayor of Washington, DC said:

“Information like this is the key to residents making smart decisions about their health,” said District of Columbia Mayor Adrian M. Fenty. “This report illustrates clearly how much we have to do to help people live healthier lives, because the choices we make can have serious impact on our health.” - (DCDOH)

To which we have to ask the very obvious question and those choices are what exactly? We get the blaming the victim part with the responses from a three (3) year old report but if you recall we've been focused on the things that keep us alive. The problem with old information, other than it makes you make repairs to late to be of use to anyone, is its old. Think of what you should do to make high school a better experience for you now. Or now that you've had you're teeth pulled you'll brush the ones you no longer have next time. Hindsight is twenty twenty and really useless if you only stay focused on the hind. Unfortunately the most recent information that we the people have is 2006, thanks to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The information they report is from the local departments of health from the local jurisdictions. That information is updated weekly. It's how we get our flu stats.

CAUSES OF DEATH By Jurisdiction 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH 5TH District of Columbia North Carolina Maryland Virginia United States of America North Carolina Virginia

“This Report is for lay people, policy-makers, and health practitioners to use as they work to improve their own health, and the health of those that they serve. Knowing that these causes of death are preventable should be particularly empowering, because knowing that we can take actions to reduce the burden of a disease can give us all hope, ” said DOH Director Dr. Pierre Vigilance “We encourage people to use this report to impact health at the individual, community, and institutional levels, and to make decisions that improve our collective health and wellness.” - DC Department of Health (DCDOH)

There's no conclusion in this report (PDF). It's a review of old and outdated information to which no conclusion is drawn except - it's your fault! We conclude that if you're a resident of the District of Columbia like the old joke where the man is bitten by a poisonous snake while relieving himself in the woods with his best friend calls a doctor who tells him that he has to suck the poison out to save his friends life. The bitten man who is holding his himself asks his best friend what the doctor says and his best friend tells him: "You're going to die!"

Remember we said earlier at you'll see and ended with but... They're not the ones who as so suck out the poison was how we were going to end that statement. The mayor and the DC Department of Health are the ones who do have to suck out the poison. They're the ones whose responsibility is to suck out the poison.

"The Mission of the Department of Health is to promote and protect the health, safety and quality of life of residents, visitors and those doing business in the District of Columbia. Our responsibilities include identifying health risks; educating the public; preventing and controlling diseases, injuries and exposure to environmental hazards; promoting effective community collaborations; and optimizing equitable access to community resources." - About DC Department of Health (DCDOH)

To us, this kind of conclusion is not funny. We'll do what we can to keep this from happening to you and to us. Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia residents - At Ease! As You Were!