Premature Death in Easter Europe

-Young men espeically ___ to communist policies in Eastern Europe (pre-1990)

Leading cause of increased mortality is Injuries and violence, CVD,

-High alcohol comsumuption esp. binge drinking

-Smoking and nutrition are also a part of it.

Men who experience a rapid ecoomic transition who have the least social support are most effected.

-not uniqure pattern of premature mortality - it's seend in Western Europe too.

Big difference in LE between women and men

In most of Europe women are more likely than men to not drink or drink very lightly and fewer drink >40 gram/day (3-4 drinks/day)

Russians drink "worse alchol" France drink wine.

>50% of Russian, Czech Republic and French  men drink >40 grams/day

France more "okay" since it's wine, Czech's drink beer.

Estimate 6000 YLL in Russia males ____ due to drinking.

“The timing and pace of health transitions around the world.” Population and Development Review, 31(4), 741-764.

Aim of article is to describe regional and global life expectancy gains across time and space

3 divergent trends in life expectancy since the early 1980s

1. Most countries, even those with already high levels of life expectancy, continued to add years at a fairly robust pace

2. A second group of countries that were previously part of the Soviet Union saw a stagnation or slight decline in life expectancy, particularly among males

3. A third group of countries, primarily in central and southern Africa where HIV/AIDS in rampant, saw a dramatic decrease in life expectancy by as much as 19 years

- It is often difficult to determine when a health transition begins

- Population composition can greatly affect death rates

- For example, in GB and FR in the mid-1800s, death rates at the national level appeared to be stagnant, but in reality death rates were decreasing while greater numbers of people were migrating to urban areas (where death rates were higher)

- Countries that began the health transition prior to 1850 experienced slower gains in life expectancy than countries that began the transition more recently

- It is difficult to generalize common causes of life expectancy gain because countries have experienced gains under very diverse circumstances

- Gains have been made under differing stages of economic development, historical conditions, and levels of literacy and education, among other things

- Riley suggests that rather than studying mortality transitions in one country during one period in time, a more comparative approach is necessary to test specific explanations that may be relevant for reducing mortality in countries where life expectancy is still low

“Causes of the Russian mortality crisis: Evidence and interpretations.” World Development, 26(11), 1995-2011.

present ssome of the important available information about the sharp rise in mortality in Russia and to examine the causes of the crisis

- Trends in Russian life expectancy before and after 1992

- Russian life expectancy decreased slightly between 1960 and early 1980s

- Increased between 1985 and 1987 due to anti-alcohol campaign

- Experienced dramatic drop between 1992 and 1994

- Increased slightly in recent years

- Main causes of death over this time period were cardiovascular disease and accidents/injuries

- Increased death rates occurred primarily in mid-adulthood, not at youngest and oldest ages

- In 1984, the probability that a 20 year old Russian male would die before age 60 was 35%; by 1994 this had increased to 48%

- Although wide variation existed in official causes of death (accidents, TB, CVD, etc.) authors argues that many of these deaths could be linked to alcohol abuse

- Mortality increases in different population strata

- Gender gap in life expectancy widened between 1960-1994 from 7 years to 13.7 years

- Urban-rural gap decreased over this period due to increased death rates in urban areas

- Education gradient increased over this period (big decline in life expectancy for those with low education)

- Increased mortality disadvantage for single, widowed, and divorced men due to external causes compared to married men

- Some common explanations for the mortality increase that are poorly supported by the evidence include mass impoverishment and malnutrition, deterioration of the health care system, and ecological factors (such as pollution)

- Explanations that are better supported by evidence include increase in alcohol abuse due to maladaption and psychological stress under changing economic and social conditions

- This theory is supported by the fact that some population groups, such as the married and the educated, who most likely had greater psychological resources and support, did not experience dramatic increases in mortality