Sepsis, which can cause falling blood pressure and organ failure, kills about 20 percent to 50 percent of patients with severe cases.
Researchers evaluated hospital information about patients discharged between 1979 and 2000 to look for trends in sepsis in the United States. They found that rates of sepsis increased 8.7 percent each year during this time, from about 164,000 cases in 1979 to nearly 660,000 cases in 2,000.
This means that in 1979 there were about 83 cases per 100,000 people, while in 2000 there were about 240 cases per 100,000 people.
Researchers were not certain why there was an increase in cases, though they suggest that doctors might be becoming more familiar with the condition and are therefore more able to record it.
Other factors that may affect the rate include the increase in the use of invasive procedures, immune-system suppressing drugs, chemotherapy and transplants. HIV infections and antibiotic resistance may also be contributing to the increasing rates, according to researchers.
Although the rate of sepsis has been increasing, the mortality rate from the disease has declined. From 1979 to 1984, the mortality rate was 27.8 percent, compared with 17.9 percent from 1995 through 2000.
Sepsis can be triggered by bacterial infection or serious injury. Among the cases in the study, 51 percent were caused by a germ. Of those, more than 90 percent were due to a bacteria, and close to five percent were due to a fungus.
According to the study, care of people with sepsis costs the United States about $50,000 per patient, or close to $17 billion each year.
The New England Journal of Medicine April 17, 2003;348:1546-1554
It is no surprise that these infections continue to increase. Does anyone expect otherwise when the population’s health choices are so miserable?
Obesity continues to skyrocket.
Our grain, sugar and soda intake shows no evidence of slowing down. Once insulin levels are elevated, significant damage is done to the immune system that prevents it from working normally.
Our fat intake is all screwed up in the United States, which certainly doesn’t help. Not only do many people still believe the low-fat myth, once they start to realize that fat is important they choose the wrong types.
The average American has four orders of French fries, which are full of harmful trans fat, a week, and many are having those fries after consuming a breakfast of Krispy Kremes, which are also full of trans fat.
Once people start to believe they need real food, then they choose vegetable fats that are loaded with omega-6 fats, which completely disrupts their omega 6:3 ratio that controls vital metabolic pathways related to health.
Our consumption of vegetables oils was very low in 1900, but it increased to 50 pounds per person per year in 1970 and last year had climbed to 75 pounds. This massive increase in vegetables oils is one of the major reasons why Americans’ omega 6:3 ratio is typically about 15:1. Ideally it should be about 1:1. In the longest-lived people on the planet, the Japanese, the level is about 3:1.
Many of us have serious sleep problems and sleep deficits and also suffer from exercise deficiency syndrome, all of which further degrade the immune system.
Finally, recurrent emotional traumas are likely the single most important reason why our immune systems become trashed.
Fortunately, simple techniques like EFT, which you can learn from my 25-page free report, can help you start to address these issues.
You will also want to consider adjusting your diet to be in line with nutritional typing principles and make sure you are consuming enough omega-3 fat to balance out your omega 6:3 ratio.
One of the best sources of omega-3 fat is fish oil and cod liver oil as they contain two fatty acids, DHA and EPA, that are essential to fighting and preventing both physical and mental disease but can only be found in fish. Unfortunately, most fish are contaminated with mercury and are therefore unsafe to eat.
However, Carlson’s fish oil and cod liver oil has been purified to be free of mercury and other toxins. I have also done some research and have uncovered a safe source of wild red Alaskan salmon. This brand of salmon is the ONLY fish I have discovered, via independent lab testing, to be free of harmful mercury and other toxins. This absolutely delicious fish is another excellent source of omega-3.
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