Every Wednesday, I attended seminar conducted by professionals e.g. medical doctors, chartered accountants, physiotherapists, etc. This weekly event is hosted by the Richmond Hill Christian Community for seniors and baby boomers at Bayview and Major McKenzie. Most of the seminars are health and retirement related.
Statistics pertaining to critical illnesses were cited. Of 10 Healthy male adults, 3 will have a critical illness before age 65. Of 10 healthy female adults, 2.7 will have a critical illness before age 65. Common critical illnesses include the following:
Heart Attack
(From the Heart and Stroke Foundation)
1 in 4 Canadians will contract some form of heart disease
75,000 Canadians suffer heart attacks each year
Heart disease costs the Canadian economy approximately $19 billion every year in medical services, hospitalization expenses, loss of income and loss of productivity
The rate of death among patients hospitalized for heart attacks has been decreased by half, from 16 per cent to 8 per cent
1 in 2 heart attack victims are under the age of 65
Stroke
(From the Heart and Stroke Foundation)
50,000 Canadians suffer a stroke each year
75% survive the initial event
strokes are the leading cause of neurological disability
1/3 of stroke victims are under the age of 65
60% of stroke victims will be left with a disability
Cancer
(From the Canadian Cancer Society)
more than 130,000 Canadians will be diagnosed with cancer this year
over 60,000 people in Canada will die this year from the disease
1 in 3 Canadians will develop cancer in their lifetime
1 in 9 women will develop breast cancer
1 in 3 women and 1 in 2.5 men will develop cancer in their lifetime.
Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery
(From the the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario/Canada)
bypass surgery is performed more on men than women by a ratio of nearly 4 to 1 there are approximately 11,000 bypass surgeries performed in Canada each year the rate at which bypass surgery is performed on people age 65 and older has increased.
Multiple Sclerosis
(From the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada)
More than 50,000 Canadians have Multiple Sclerosis
MS is the most common neurological disease among young Canadians
Canadians have one of the highest rates of MS in the world.
Women are twice as likely to develop MS as men
Parkinsons Disease
(From the Parkinson's Foundation of Canada)
30% of all Parkinson's patients are under 50
20% of all Parkinson's patients are under 40
there are approximately 80,000 - 100,000 Canadians suffering from Parkinson's
The statistics are really scary!I'm wondering, what's the reason, why so many seniors and baby boomers suffer from those terrible diseases.