[Kim Jaeho's Life Story]<212> Early Death, What Is the Problem?

According to the recently compiled 2019 life tables for Koreans, the life expectancy of male newborns in 2019 was 80.3 years, which is 21.6 years longer than the 58.7 years recorded in 1970. For females, it was 86.3 years, 20.5 years longer than the 65.8 years in 1970. These figures exceed the OECD average by 2.2 years for men and 2.9 years for women. However, when discussing life expectancy, two other indicators should also be considered: healthy life expectancy and premature mortality.

In 2018, healthy life expectancy was 64 years for men and 64.9 years for women, meaning men spend about one-fifth and women about one-quarter of their lives in poor health, unable to live fully human lives. This remains a challenging issue to improve quality of life. Premature death generally refers to death before the ages of 70 or 75 in OECD countries and other developed nations. How does Korea fare by this standard?

Premature death is one of the deaths everyone wishes to avoid. Since everyone born into this world will eventually die, how and how long one lives is important. Premature death brings the sorrow of not enjoying sufficient happiness to the individual, inflicts deep wounds on parents that are hard to heal, and leaves remaining family members with psychological and financial burdens that are difficult to bear.

Among the 295,000 deaths in 2019, 29.9% were under the age of 70. Of these, 16.5% were under 60, and 7.3% were under 50. This means that nearly 30% of people still die before reaching 70, one in six dies before 60, and about one in fourteen dies before 50.

By gender, the percentages of men dying before 70, 60, and 50 were 39.1%, 21.2%, and 8.7%, respectively. Although men’s life expectancy exceeds 80 years, nearly 40% die before 70, and one in five dies before 60, placing a heavy burden on their families. Women fare relatively better, with rates of 18.9%, 10.9%, and 5.5%, respectively.

In 2019, the leading causes of death among those under 60 were cancer at 30.8%, followed by suicide at 18.4%, heart disease and cerebrovascular disease at 7.1%, liver disease at 5.2%, and traffic accidents at 3.6%. Cancer, suicide, heart disease, and cerebrovascular disease together accounted for 61.5%, indicating that unless deaths from cancer and suicide among young and middle-aged adults are reduced, it will be difficult to significantly lower premature mortality.

Looking at causes of death by age, the high rates of suicide and cancer among premature deaths under 60 are a serious concern. Suicide is the leading cause of death among those in their teens, twenties, and thirties, with cancer second. For those in their forties and fifties, cancer is the leading cause, followed by suicide, showing that both physical and mental health are at critical levels.

Although advances in screening technology and early detection have increased early diagnosis of cancer, and treatment improvements have raised five-year survival and cure rates, there are limits to screening and treatment alone. The number of cancer deaths under 60 and under 70 has slightly decreased compared to ten years ago but still remains at about 15,000 and 32,000, respectively. The proportion of cancer deaths among those under 60 has hovered around 30% for 15 years, and among those under 70, it has consistently been about 36%.

Suicide often occurs suddenly, making prevention crucial. The number of suicides under 60, which was around 5,000 in 2000, has recently stabilized between 8,000 and 9,000, with about 6,000 under 50. The proportion of suicide deaths among those under 60 has steadily increased to 18.4% in 2019, and among those under 50, it has also risen steadily to 28.5%.

Reducing premature deaths requires significantly lowering deaths from cancer and suicide, and prevention is key for both. While suicide prevention is self-evident, cancer treatment advancements should be left to scientists. Meanwhile, we should adopt a lifestyle that supports the body’s natural healing abilities?the best physician within us?through life-affirming healthy habits. The benefits will return to us in the form of health and happiness. This is the essence of Newstart (see Life Story Part 6).

Kim Jae-ho, Independent Researcher