Life, Death and Axes

Let's look at some converging lines of population numbers. The United States appears to be trending toward a new club of nations: those in which annual deaths routinely outnumber births. Some countries in Europe and Asia, such as Japan, Italy, South Korea and Germany, already have more deaths each year than births.

The biggest driver appears to be American women having fewer children later than in the past.

At the moment, the birth and death numbers in the U.S. pretty much balance out, rebounding from the COVID-19 pandemic, when deaths temporarily outnumbered births. However, health data suggests death rates during the winter months are rising and regularly edging out births in the U.S.

"At first glance, you might think that, since older Americans tend to die more, rising deaths may be behind America's falling birth-to-death ratio. After all, deaths have climbed 25 percent since 2008, while births are only down 13 percent," reported The New York Times.

"But those are raw numbers. When you adjust them to account for an aging population, deaths fell just 3 percent from 2008 to 2023, while births plummeted 24 percent."

Demographically speaking, the U.S. will look quite different going forward. Most old people will be white; most young people will be people of color. Among men and women, there isn't much of an age-gender gap until women reach their 50s and their long life expectancies come into play.

Body of Knowledge

After age 30, the brain begins to lose neurons at a rate of about 50,000 per day, shrinking one-quarter of 1% in mass each year. Don't panic. It's estimated the average adult brain has roughly 86 billion neurons.

Correction: In a recent "Body of Knowledge" item, it was observed that the "total weight of bacteria in the human body is approximately half a pound, or roughly 3% of a 155-pound person. That's total wet mass. If you remove bacterial water weight, the total is between 50 and 100 grams, the equivalent of a medium-sized tomato, small bar of soap, four AA batteries or a small hamster."

One number was incorrect: For wet bacterial weight, half a pound is roughly 0.3%, not 3%, of cited human body weight. Older scientific estimates did in fact put wet weight at 1%-3%, but they have been supplanted by a widely recognized 2016 paper in PLOS Biology.

The error can only be attributed to my ongoing loss of neurons.

Get Me That, Stat!

According to a 2014 YouGov survey, men are more likely to admit to having picked their nose in the past year (46% compared to 37% of women); to have passed gas around others (41% compared to 30%); to have spit in the street (35% compared to 11%) and to have slurped when eating soup (22% compared to 15%).

Younger people are more likely to admit to almost every potentially bad habit compared with those aged 55 or over. There were regional differences as well: People in the Midwest are more likely than people from any other part of America to have assorted bad habits, with nearly half admitting to having picked their nose in the past year (47%); passed gas in company (46%); muttered to themselves (46%); burped so others can hear (30%) and slurped when eating soup (22%).

Mark Your Calendar

Unsurprisingly, December is a light month for health awareness, with the focus only on safe toys and avoiding injury from sharp objects, such as stepping barefoot on pointy Lego bricks.

Counts

3.1: Percentage of surveyed Americans who, according to a 2022 Health Digest survey, say they shower once a week or less. (If you're next to one, you'll know.)

Doc Talk

Distal pulse: The pulse farthest from the heart

Phobia of the Week

Amaxophobia: Fear of riding in a car

Never Say 'Diet'

The Major League Eating speed-eating record for mince pie is 46 pies in 10 minutes, held by Sonya Thomas, whose narrow victory had opponents claiming it was stollen.

Best Medicine

Hepatologist: "Ever since I specialized, I can't eat liver."

Nephrologist: "Same here."

Pediatrician: "Me too."

Observation

"When I'm not in my right mind, my left mind gets pretty crowded." -- American comedian Steven Wright

Medical History

This week in 1982, Dr. William C. DeVries replaced the diseased heart of Barney Clark, 61, with the Jarvik-7, the first permanent artificial heart ever used for a human patient. This was the first of a series of five implants of the Jarvik total artificial heart during the next three years. Clark survived for 112 days. "It may not work that well for me," Clark said. "I'll do it for the next patient."

Ig Nobel Apprised

The Ig Nobel Prizes celebrate achievements that make people laugh, then think. A look at real science that's hard to take seriously and even harder to ignore.

In 2025, the Ig Nobel Prize in nutrition went to an international team of scientists for studying the extent to which a certain kind of African lizard (Agama agama) chooses to eat certain kinds of pizza. The lizards preferred four-cheese pizzas to those with pepperoni or other toppings. The scientists surmised that the four-cheese pizza may provide more attractive chemical cues or be easier to digest.

Self-Exam

Q: If you drink copious amounts of purple Powerade, what color will your stool be?

A) The usual color, whatever that is.

B) Green

C) Red

D) Unknown. Too much Powerade causes constipation.

A: Green. Powerade's blue and purple dyes combine with the natural yellow-green bile in the intestines. And because consuming a lot of Powerade can act as a mild laxative, speeding through the intestinal tract, bile doesn't have enough time to break it down to the usual brown color. The color change is deemed harmless, but if persistent or accompanied by other symptoms like recurring diarrhea and stomach pain, consult a physician. And maybe switch to water.

Curtain Calls

Robert Williams, a worker at a Ford Motor Co. plant, became the first known human to be killed by a robot when, in 1979, he was struck in the head by a swinging arm of a 1-ton factory robot.

========

To find out more about Scott LaFee and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.