All the News That’s Fit: Cities’ health care costs, life expectancies and birthday cake feasting

by Scott Lafee

For The Union-Tribune

Cities where people spend most and least on health care

There’s a reason why health and wealth rhyme. They may be the same thing.

The personal finance company WalletHub issued its latest survey of cities where people spend the most and least on health care. The company analyzed prices of five key health care components — average cost of a doctor, dentist and optometrist visit, plus price of ibuprofen and insulin glargine — in 100 of the largest cities.

The five cities with the lowest percentage of income spent on health care:

• Gilbert, Ariz. (3.54%)

• Fremont, Calif. (3.67%)

• Irvine, Calif. (3.82%)

• Scottsdale, Ariz. (4.00%)

• Huntington Beach, Calif. (4.13%)

The five cities with the highest percentage of income spent on health care:

• Detroit, Mich. (13.17%)

• Cleveland, Ohio (11.35%)

• Newark, N.J. (11.28%)

• Toledo, Ohio (11.03%)

• Birmingham, Ala. (9.97%)

Nationwide, the consumer price index for medical care has increased 11.8% over the past five years.

“As health care gets increasingly more expensive, more and more people find themselves struggling to afford essential services and medicines,” said WalletHub analyst Chip Luo. “While some cities have lower prices than others, the average income in many places still may not be enough to keep up with the costs, especially when consumers have also faced inflated prices across all other facets of their budgets over the past few years.”

Body of knowledge

The knee joint is the largest in the body because it must support the entire weight of the body above it. The hip joint is second biggest. The smallest joint in the human body is the incudostapedial joint between the incus and stapes bones in the middle ear. These are the two tiniest bones in the body.

Get me that. Stat!

According to the latest data (2022) from the National Vital Statistics Reports, Hawaii boasts the longest life expectancy (at birth) at 80.0 years for total population. (Men come in at 77.1 years; women at 83.0.) West Virginia had the shortest life expectancy at 72.2 total (men 69.5; women 75.1).

Mark your calendar

January is health awareness month for cervical cancer, birth defects, glaucoma, substance abuse disorder and radon, a naturally occurring, radioactive, colorless and odorless gas that can seep into buildings from soil, becoming a significant health risk. It’s found everywhere, but it becomes dangerous in concentrated indoor levels, making testing and mitigation essential for suspect homes and buildings.

Doc talk

Chyme — the thick, acidic, semi-fluid mixture of partially digested food and digestive juices formed in the stomach after you eat. As it passes through the digestive system, with further processing and water extracted, it becomes solid stool.

Phobia of the week

Chionophobia — fear of snow

Never say diet

The Major League Eating speed-eating record for birthday cake is 14.5 pounds in 8 minutes, held by Matt Stonie. There is no official accounting for candles consumed.

Best medicine

A pair of cows were talking in the field. One says, “Have you heard about the mad cow disease that’s going around?”

“Yeah,” the other cow says. “Makes me glad I’m a penguin.”

Medical history

This week in 1885, William West Grant of Davenport, Iowa, performed what is believed to be the first successful appendectomy in the United States on 22-year-old Mary Gartside, who recovered and lived until 1919, when she died from an unrelated illness.

The first appendectomy in Britain took place in 37 years earlier.

Ig Nobel apprised

The Ig Nobel Prizes celebrate achievements that make people laugh, then think. A look at real science that’s hard to take seriously, and even harder to ignore.

In 2017, the Ig Nobel Prize in Medicine went to a team of English and French researchers who used advanced brain-scanning technology to measure the extent to which some people are disgusted by cheese. It’s estimated there are 1,800 to 2,000 types of cheese in the world, so there are plenty of disgusting options.

Medical myths

Breastfeeding does not cause breasts to sag. Pregnancy itself may cause breasts to stretch as they become bigger, and then recover differently, but breastfeeding has no effect. Smoking, on the other hand, has been empirically linked to sagging breasts.