Ranked 13th in USA for stroke deaths, Kentucky residents may face increased risk of mental impairment

Hear Republican Senators Mitch McConnell, Jeff Sessions and John Kyl fight for the destruction of Medicare even as Kentucky residents suffer disproportionally from stroke and cancer deaths

Along with other residents of the stroke belt (Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia, Texas and Missouri) all of which happen to dominated by conservative "Red" politics, Kentuckians may also be suffering from increased rates of mental impairment and other forms of cognitive decline. For details read the New York Times Article here.

With 47.99 deaths per hundred thousand, Kentucky ranks 13th in the US for stroke deaths according to the statistics furnished by the Center for Disease Control (CDC).

Kentucky: 6th fattest state in the USA
Kentucky also comes in 6th in the US for obesity with nearly 32% suffering from this health problem that translates into other dangerous and expensive illnesses such as heart disease and diabetes. What's also shocking is that Kentucky ranks 3rd in the US for kids with obesity in the 10-17 age range.


Kentucky Needs Health Insurance and Health Education

Kentucky also ranks 12th from the bottom in the number of people with health insurance (US Census). Why would South Carolina conservatives like Senator Mitch McConnell lead the fight against universal health coverage? 

Poor health: a fact of life in Mitch McConnell's Kentucky
Kentucky residents: sick and getting sicker
McConnell shills for Big Coal even as Kentucky leads nation in cancer deaths
Kentucky leads nation in child abuse deaths
Environmental hazards in Kentucky and health
Kentucky ranks high for teen births

Mitch McConnell's Kentucky: sick and getting sicker

It is shocking that Kentuckians are some of the least healthy people in the US with the highest cancer rates in the nation, low life expectancy, high infant mortality, and unusually high incidences of depression and obesity. According to a number of health rankings Kentucky lands nearly at the bottom of all 50 states.

Could this be due to weak environmental regulations?

While lawsuite settlements are only a tiny percentage of overall health care costs and people in Kentucky are dying of some of the worst health problems in the country, Mitch McConnell claims junk lawsuits are the biggest health care problem facing Kentucky and the USA. According to the Congressional Budget Office, "the evidence available to date does not make a strong case that restricting malpractice liability would have a significant effect, either positive or negative, on economic efficiency."

Kentucky health quality, poor and getting poorer 

No. 44 in overall health in 2010 down from No. 41 in 2009, according to the United Health Foundation. Could this be do to weak environmental regulations?

No. 43 according to USA Today that measured 20 key measures of wellness, such as rates of obesity, infant mortality, cancer deaths and high school graduation. 

Poor Education contributes to poor health in Kentucky

These studies and a number of additional ones not listed here claim poor education is one of the major contributing factors to the comparatively poor health of Kentucky residents.

Kentucky a health care failure: here's how it ranks among the 50 states
 

No. 1 for Cancer deaths No. 8 for Occupational fatalities. Source: http://www.americashealthrankings.org/yearcompare/2009/2010/KY.aspx

No. 1 and climbing for child deaths due to abuse

No. 2 for cigarette smoking. Source: http://www.americashealthrankings.org/yearcompare/2009/2010/KY.aspx

No. 3 for depression Source:  http://www.nmha.org/go/state-ranking

No. 6 for obesity. Source: http://www.americashealthrankings.org/yearcompare/2009/2010/KY.aspx

No. 8 for Occupational fatalities.Source: http://www.americashealthrankings.org/yearcompare/2009/2010/KY.aspx

No. 9 for teen births

No. 15 for infant mortality. Source: http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2010/ranks/rank17.html

No 44 for life expectancy. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_life_expectancy

Many Kentuckians are going without health insurance:  

With 16.1% of the population lacking any kind of health insurance, Kentucky ranks 32nd out of the 50 states for number of people insured.  it makes you wonder why Mitch McConnell has pledged to dismantle the recent health care reform legislation, that his constituents desperately need. 

Besides high poverty and unemployment and poor education, could Kentucky's many health problems be related to weak environmental regulations of industries such as coal? Read this:http://mitchmcconnells-kentucky.blogspot.com/2010/12/mitch-mcconnells-kentucky-environmental.html