New Medical Concerns Threaten Latin America's Emerging Middle Class Rosario Perez - The Huffington Post
go to original December 13, 2013

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Just as our bodies adapt to the evolving world around us, the health problems in Latin America and the Caribbean regions (LAC) have evolved with changes in the economic realities. Only 20 years ago, the health conditions associated with developing countries plagued LAC as well: bacterial diarrhea was the number one cause of death in 1990, and stunting from malnutrition afflicted approximately 24 percent of children.

LAC is now a region in transition. Stunting has decreased by 45 percent and diarrheal disease dropped to the twentieth cause of death. Meanwhile, non-communicable and chronic diseases traditionally associated with higher-income countries have skyrocketed. Rates of childhood obesity have dramatically increased and diabetes moved into the top five causes of mortality.

Chronic diseases account for 68 percent of mortality in LAC and lead to billions of dollars of losses in economic production. On top of that, experts predict that deaths from heart disease, diabetes, and stroke will triple in the next two decades. In addition, cervical cancer mortality rates are seven times greater in LAC than in North America, and breast cancer is the deadliest cancer for women in the region.

Read the rest at The Huffington Post

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