This table compares the number of deaths in the United States from heart disease to the country's total population over the past six decades. In each year listed on the table, heart disease was the leading cause of death.
(a) Calculate the number of deaths in the United States from heart disease per 100,000 people in 1954 and 2004; round each figure to the nearest whole number. Provide a likely explanation for the trend in the data from 1954 to 2004.
(b) In the United States in 2004, there were approximately 41,492,000 people aged 15 to 24 and approximately 17,830,000 people aged 75 and up. Of the younger group, approximately 1,040 people died of heart disease; of the older group, approximately 1,141,500 people died of heart disease. Based only on these figures, calculate the respective probabilities in 2004 that a person in each age group in the United States would have died of heart disease; calculate each probability as a percent rounded to the nearest whole number. Provide a likely explanation for the difference in probability between age groups.
(c) Identify and describe one cultural hazard that puts people at greater risk of developing heart disease. Describe a strategy you could implement in your own life for decreasing the risk posed by this hazard.
(d) Describe one way that the U.S. government could apply the precautionary principle to decrease the risk posed to Americans by heart disease. Explain how such measures can help decrease the external costs of heart disease.