10-2023: Infectious diseases down, non-communicable diseases up

The Global Burden of Disease Study 2023 reports were just published in the Lancet (link link) with a mind-blowing number of insights, some obvious, some hidden in plain sight and some just hidden but accessible to all via an amazing interactive visualization tool (link). Highly recommended read, including the some hundreds of pages of supplemental information where you might find some nuggets (for example, look for CKD and stroke on pages 6 and 7 of Appendix 2 of "Global burden of 292 causes of death in 204 countries and territories and 660 subnational locations, 1990–2023: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2023").

The title of this post is a biased TL;DR, but it is a finding that applies across most countries: cardio-vascular disease, diabetes, chronic kidney disease have come to the forefront as the largest causes of mortality in most countries, not just the richest and most developed. So in a way, it represents a success of modern Western medicine combined with the spread of Western lifestyle's adverse effects.

The figure here shows % change in global age-standardized mortality rates from 1990 to 2023 among the leading 30 (Level 3) causes of death, by gender. The large increase in diabetes-related deaths in makes is notable, as are the decreases in deaths caused by many other conditions. A worrisome finding, but smaller in absolute numbers, is the enormous increase in deaths due to HIV/AIDS in both genders but with a disproportionate impact on females. Digging into the data, it looks it is driven by increases in Central and Western Sub-Saharan Africa.

You can find a great summary debrief (link). Selected insights 💡 :

➡️ "Mental health disorders rose steeply, with anxiety disorders increasing by 63% and depressive disorders by 26%. In addition, sexual abuse and intimate partner violence were identified as preventable contributors to depression, anxiety, and other health consequences."

➡️ "For those 50 to 69 years, high systolic blood pressure was the leading risk, followed by smoking, high blood sugar, high BMI, high LDL cholesterol, and kidney dysfunction."

Jordan Shlain, MD, John Battelle, Claudia Williams, Stefano Bertozzi