Should “Old Age” Be A Cause Of Death?
The Washington Post asks whether “old age” should be reconsidered as a legitimate cause of death for the elderly. Because more people are dying at very advanced ages with multiple system failure, it’s often harder for physicians to pinpoint the specific underlying cause, but using “old age” as a catch-all term could make mortality data less meaningful, the article said.
An upcoming revision of the International Classification of Diseases might provide some guidance: “Each revision of the ICD is the right moment to reconsider this question,” the co-head of the ICD’s mortality statistics committee told the Post. (Washington Post)
*This blog post was originally published at ACP Internist*
GE Health donated time on their latest CT and MR systems for researchers from the Field Museum in Chicago to image the insides of an ancient baby mammoth. Lyuba, apparently one of the finest preserved mammoth specimens, was found by a Siberian reindeer herder three years ago. Now, thanks to modern technology, the researchers believe they know the cause of death of the mammoth. Lyuba is currently on view at the “Mammoths and Mastodons: Titans of the Ice Age” exhibit at the Field Museum. Of course, there’s also something to be said for today’s tomography scanners with bore sizes that can accommodate a mammoth. 
