tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32776756.post3564025753688415999..comments2023-10-20T18:03:01.821+09:00Comments on GlobalTalk 21: Ask the Un-Economist: Should You Be Afraid of Catching Cancer (and Heart Disease) in Japan?Jun Okumurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00291478225274759649noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32776756.post-19561068430928012342009-04-25T12:05:00.000+09:002009-04-25T12:05:00.000+09:00Zach: I don’t think you’re seeing the same statist...Zach: I don’t think you’re seeing the same statistics that I’m seeing. I have no intention of making an another attempt to explain the difference between statistics regarding age groups and the population as a whole. I heard the cancer (heart failure) figures being cited to support the claim that the Japanese heath care system was failing at a public forum attended by among other people a large number of pharmaceutical industry professionals and no one challenged it. <br /><br />Bryce: Cool. But what Wikipedia article?Jun Okumurahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00291478225274759649noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32776756.post-83222171072200645132009-04-22T03:58:00.000+09:002009-04-22T03:58:00.000+09:00Woo-hoo!
Someone has cited a wikipedia article th...Woo-hoo!<br /><br />Someone has cited a wikipedia article that I wrote/initiated!Fat Tonyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17510349633893586178noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32776756.post-53995238689895802172009-04-21T09:49:00.000+09:002009-04-21T09:49:00.000+09:00I could cite the factoid that cancer and heart dis...I could cite the factoid that cancer and heart disease deaths are rising as leading killers of the Japanese population, and that this factoid supports the claim that Japanese preventative medicine is lagging. (Isn't that the real claim here?)<br /><br />The somewhat spurious conclusions you reach from your stats don't really overturn this claim.<br /><br />Do you have an example of someone "who should know better are making the claim that cancer (heart failure) deaths are rising to support their (in many ways supportable) assertion that there are some things wrong with the Japanese healthcare system."?Zach Barannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32776756.post-55728367233209239402009-04-20T18:39:00.000+09:002009-04-20T18:39:00.000+09:00Thank you, Zach, for pointing out my error, that t...Thank you, Zach, for pointing out my error, that two out of 139 numbers regarding the death rate for age groups <I>did</I> show an increase, not a decrease. I should have said, “Fewer and fewer people are dying here in <I>almost</I>every age group since 1965”, not “Fewer and fewer people are dying here in every age group since 1965”. When you grow old, Zach, the eyes are the first to go, trust me. (On the other hand… but that’s another issue.) However, I never claimed in my post that the overall death rate was not increasing. My point was that some people who should know better are making the claim that cancer (heart failure) deaths are rising to support their (in many ways supportable) assertion that there are some things wrong with the Japanese healthcare system. Sorry that I failed to make this clearer for you.Jun Okumurahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00291478225274759649noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32776756.post-45614742143983949122009-04-20T18:06:00.000+09:002009-04-20T18:06:00.000+09:00"Fewer and fewer people are dying here in every ag..."Fewer and fewer people are dying here in every age group since 1965, as this Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry table shows."<br /><br />I clicked on the link, and am thinking, "Are we looking at the same table?"<br /><br />Deaths per 100,000 people rose for the following age groups between 2005 and 2006:<br />35-39, 55-59<br /><br />As well, the overall death rate increased from 860 to 879. Both the male and female overall numbers increased.<br /><br />Ignoring the data, I don't quite understand the conventional wisdom being poked at in this case. "Catching cancer"? Wha?Zach Barannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32776756.post-81498734374801444242009-04-20T12:42:00.000+09:002009-04-20T12:42:00.000+09:00Durfee: The Un-Economist is not “sidestepping” tha...Durfee: <I>The Un-Economist</I> is not “sidestepping” that issue at all. It’s simply not <I>The Un-Economist’s</I> ball of wax. <I>The Un-Economist</I> only pokes holes in misguided pieces of conventional wisdom, and leaves the real issues to me. And the long-term financial viability of the public healthcare system is very real. I in turn have commented on that subject, but mainly on the political fringes and nowhere near to my personal satisfaction; I know too little about the subject as it is.Jun Okumurahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00291478225274759649noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32776756.post-10156219985511252742009-04-20T11:15:00.000+09:002009-04-20T11:15:00.000+09:00Your analysis sidesteps the (equally?) important f...Your analysis sidesteps the (equally?) important fact that if the correspondent is young, he'll be stuck paying for the palliative care for all those oldies as they succumb to cancer and whatnot. Hey, I'm sure the system will stay stable enough to do the same for him if he sticks around long enough, though . . . *cough*Durfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01808798326382363759noreply@blogger.com