[lit-ideas] Those healthier Canadians

This is not a satirical subject line. Check out

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060530.whealth0530/BNStory/specialScienceandHealth/home

Story starts as follows:


"Americans are 42 per cent more likely than Canadians to have
diabetes, 32 per cent more likely to have high blood pressure, and 12
per cent more likely to have arthritis, Harvard Medical School
researchers found. That is according to a survey in which American and
Canadian adults were asked over the telephone about their health.

"The study comes less than a month after other researchers reported
that middle-aged, white Americans are much sicker than their
counterparts in England.

"We're really falling behind other nations," said Dr. Steffie
Woolhandler, a co-author of the Canadian study.

"Canada's national health insurance program is at least part of the
reason for the differences found in the study, Dr. Woolhandler said.
Universal coverage makes it easier for more Canadians to get
disease-preventing health services, she said.

"James Smith, a RAND Corp. researcher who co-authored the
American-English study, disagreed. His research found that England's
national health insurance program did not explain the difference in
disease rates, because even Americans with insurance were in worse
health."

Now, why should that be?

--
John McCreery
The Word Works, Ltd., Yokohama, JAPAN

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