What Kills Minnesotans?
A morbid title but certainly a fact; something is going to kill all of us.
Here's a website - Minnesota Life Expectancy - that has a lot of interesting information in regards to health rates state by state, and you can also break it down into counties.
One thing I noticed was that Stearns County had the highest life expectancy for both men and women among Minnesota counties. Men topped the list with an average life of 79.4 years. In our southern Minnesota counties as far as men, Waseca was 11th, Rice 12th, Dodge 24th, Steele was 27th at 77.7 years, and Freeborn ranked 45th. The shortest life expectancy for men was in Mahnomen County, which also topped Minnesota counties with highest percentage of accidents. On the women's side, Steele County ranked eighth at 83 years of age, with Rice at 20th, Dodge at 31st, Freeborn at 48th and Waseca at 50th. Kannabec County ranked last in life expectancy among women at 80.7 years.
Taking a look at causes of death show Mahnomen first, or maybe I should say last, as they registered about 205 cancer deaths per 100,000. Rice ranks 22nd in cancer deaths with Waseca 45th, Freeborn 50th and Steele at 72nd with 160 deaths per 100,000. Dodge County did the best locally in terms of cancer deaths, ranking 82nd.
As far as heart disease deaths, Wilkins County had the most with about 212 per 100,000. Dodge is 28th, Freeborn 31st, Waseca 42nd and Steele County at 50th with 154 or so heart-related deaths per 100,000. Rice County ranked 62nd.
When looking at cause of death, it's pretty simple for men. Suicide is the No. 1 cause of death for men ages 15-44. After age 44 it's heart disease at No. 1 all the way across the board. Women's statistics show suicide No. 1 for ages 15-24, with poisoning the leader in women's death ages 24-44. Note that poisonings include death from drug poisoning. The leading cause of death for women ages 45-74 in Minnesota is surprise, it's not heart disease but lung cancer. I really thought heart disease would be No. 1. I lost my 57-year-old sister to a heart attack just last week. Heart disease is the top killer of Minnesota women older than 75.
Here's that Minnesota cause of death website again. Take a look and see what you can find that surprises you.