Posted on February 17th, 2010 by Craig Maltby, Editor
New stats: Part II
My last post discussed new health data from the Statistical Abstract of the United States that illustrate some health 
trends–and their relation to immune health–among America’s 308 million+ population. I touched on diet and nutrition data, and smoking.
More stats from the 2010 Abstract:
Childhood immunizations percentages have generally held steady or even increased slightly. Sixty-eight percent of children were immunized against hepatitis B in 1990. That rose to nearly 93 percent in 2007.
Bone and joint conditions can result, in part, from immune system imbalance. The Abstract shows that in 2007, 53 million Americans had a chronic joint symptom (30 MM women, 23 MM men) and 46 million had been diagnosed with arthritis (28 MM women, 18 MM men). There is no comparative data for 1990, but I’m sure the raw numbers have increased greatly since America’s population has grown and the older age groups are growing in proportion.
Asthma is also an immunostimulating condition. 73 million U.S. kids had asthma in 2007, or had it earlier in their childhood. 223 million adults had some kind of respiratory condition, including emphysema, asthma, hay fever, sinusitis and bronchitis.
And finally, alternative, complementary therapies. These can impact immune health significantly. In 2002 10 million American adults practiced some form of yoga. That figure increased to 13 million in 2007. Those doing deep breathing routines increased from 24 million to 27 million. Adults practicing meditation increased from 15 million to 20 million.
And here’s my favorite: Americans receiving therapeutic massage increased form 10 million in 2002 to 18 million in 2007.
