How Will You Most Likely Die?

Death is the most mysterious and inevitable part of the human experience. But how will we go? Christian takes a closer look at the most common causes of death across the globe.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to brain Stuff. From How Stuff Works. Benjamin Franklin
famously said nothing certain but death and taxes, and so
far he's been half right. Hi, I'm Christian Sager, not
Ben Franklin. Spoiler alert, that guy's dead. And this is
the brain Stuff where we look at mortality, the big Sleep,

(00:24):
the end of the house party called life. Barring some
astonishing medical breakthrough, we're all going to croak, you, me,
even Nicholas Cage and unfortunately our producer Dylan. But how
there are a few ways to approach this question. First,
should we look at the deaths in a specific country
like the US or say China. While we can pull

(00:45):
some interesting statistics from a more narrowly defined study, doing
so means we're essentially ignoring the rest of the world.
So let's take a shot at the big Cahuna of
mortality studies, the Global Statistics on death. In the most
recent database available, found just five conditions were responsible for

(01:08):
of annual deaths. Can you guess which one led the pack?
If you thought something about heart disease, then congratulations, you
are correct. You're still going to die, but always remember
you died a winner. Cardiovascular diseases wiped out and estimated
seventeen point five million people in two thousand twelve, accounting
for thirty one percent of all deaths. Of these fatalities,

(01:31):
seven point four million were due to coronary heart disease
and six point seven million were due to stroke. Specifically,
that's s schemic heart disease, wherein there's a reduced blood
supply to the heart. The most common cause of schemic
heart disease is atherosclerosis. That's where a plaque made of fat, cholesterol, calcium,

(01:53):
and other substances builds up within your arteries. Eventually, dis
gunk hardens, reducing the amount of blood that can run
through your system, and this means less delicious necessary oxygen
reaches your organs. While some causes of death, such as AIDS,
have declined over time, heart disease is on the rise.
Why will. According to the World Health Organization, behavioral factors

(02:17):
play a huge role in this affliction. Smoking, drinking too
much booze, obesity, and a lack of physical activity can
all contribute to the most unpleasant and perhaps final surprise
of your life. Fortunately, experts around the globe are tackling
this problem together. The member states of WHO that's the
World Health Organization are working to achieve the goals created

(02:40):
in the oh so suavely named Global Action Plan for
the Prevention and Control of Non Communicable Diseases WHO. While
the title doesn't exactly roll off the tongue, the concept
is worthwhile. In the U s Alone, one out of
every four deaths are caused by heart disease, and many

(03:01):
people don't recognize the symptoms. Sure, one day we may
be able to replace our bodies or upload our minds
to the Internet, but for now, the one body you
have is the only one you're going to get, so
for now, take care of it. Check out the brainstuff

(03:22):
channel on YouTube, and for more on this and thousands
of other topics, visit how stuff works dot com.