Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0028754 (obesity)
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Dr. Grayson (February 21, p. 445) asks about changes in vital statistics of 3rd world populations as they develop. Of African populations, those in Johannesburg and other large South African cities, while still in transition, have now reached a relatively high level of sophistication. Their health pattern is likely to be that of other African countries as they prosper. The (IMR) infant mortality rate of blacks in Soweto, Johannesburg, is about 40/1000 live births, although nearer 30 in the regularly employed elite. This figure is similar to that for blacks in New York in 1965 and for class 5 persons in the United Kingdom. Small-town dwellers have higher IMRs and in rural areas the rates are higher still although they are decreasing everywhere. Family size is decreasing; in urban areas the average family has 3-4 children and the elite have 2-3. In Johannesburg during the 1960s, the birth rate was about 40/1000 and it is now 25. While the rate is higher in rural areas, it is falling. In the very young, gastroenteritis with or without malnutrition is still the leading cause of sickness and death in both urban and rural areas. Rates are however decreasing. Deficiency diseases, especially pellagra, remain a health problem in some areas. Tuberculosis still continues to be a major hazard although it is being dealt with. With the rise in socioeconomic status and associated changes in diet and lifestyle, obesity, especially in urban areas and especially among women, is becoming very prominent. Hypertension is more common and is the leading cause of natural death among urban dwellers. The toll from coronary heart disease and noninfective bowel disease remains inexplicably low, but diabetes is only somewhat less prevalent than it is among whites. Changes in cancar pattern and rates are slight; however, esophageal cancer in men and cervical cancer in women are the main causes of concern in the urban centers and some rural areas. Rising alcohol consumption is a major problem with its ramifications in pancreatic, liver, and heart problems. Cigarette smoking is now as common as among whites. Because of low rates for most degenerative diseases, blacks have, at middle age, a life expectancy exceeding that of whites. As sections of the 3rd world population prosper, the IMR decreases enormously as does family size. However, infections and malnutrition among the very young and tuberculosis in older groups remain important problems. Among adults, rises occur in some degenerative diseases but not in others, and diseases linked with hypertension and alcohol consumption have become formidably common, as they have in other developing and developed countries.
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PMID:Third World policies and realities. 611 Sep 78