Top 5 Public Health Trends in King County, Washington

In King County, Washington there have been concerns about chronic diseases and the upward turn that some of them have taken. Public health officials are trying to understand why these diseases are increasing and forming a plan on how to get the situation under control. I spoke to Robert Soldier the Assistant director at the Public Health Laboratories in Washington. 

Colon cancer is at present the most concerning chronic disease in King County Washington. Although the overall trend is going down the trend in the 25 to 44 year age group is going up steadily. The incidence of colon cancer is currently 40.4 new cases per every 100,000 people. Even though incidence rate is lower than most other cancers this is concerning because of the age group that is increasing. A colonoscopy is the main test that is done to confirm colon cancer, and the recommended age to get one is the age of fifty. This poses a problem because the age group that is being targeted is younger than the recommend age to preventative testing.

Breast cancer prevention has been well publicized over the last 5 years throughout the United States. Despite the effort of helping women understand the importance of regular checks the cancer incidence rate has been climbing significantly. In King County there are 170.5 new cases of breast cancer per every 100,000 people. Women between the ages of 18 and 44 are the most alarming because they are following an upward trend of incidence in breast cancer. While other groups are decreasing this one is climbing because of the feeling that a woman of this age is too young to have cancer.

The next concerning chronic disease is childhood asthma. One reason this is important is because it shows that the causes are mainly environmental. The prevalence overall is 5% of children however this is larger in the eastern part of King County. There are more factories in the east which produces more pollutants in the everyday air the children, in that region, breaths. It is alarming that more children are getting asthma because it is a direct correlation between pollutants in the air.

Diabetes is another concerning chronic disease within the population of King County. The overall trend is going up but also diabetes is showing up in younger and younger populations. Prevalence of diabetes is 5% of adults over the age of 18. However this is more likely to be higher in lower income families. In families that make less money it is harder to feed a family a good nutritious diet.  Healthy food is expensive and is rarely available in neighborhoods which house lower income families.

The last chronic disease that is causing alarm in King County is adult asthma. The most concerning factor is the income. People with an income of lower than $15,000 have the highest prevalence as well as the steepest incline of new cases. Overall prevalence is 9% of all adults. The reason the prevalence is higher in lower income households is because of the jobs that they have because more pollutants in the air which aggravates the lungs and causes an attack. This shows that King County is not doing a good job at keeping factory regulations.

By: Frances Alger