Local lung cancer deaths high

Statistics show county leads state in mortality rates

BY EMILY AYSHFORD KENOSHA NEWS

   The rate of senior citizens dying from emphysema and lung cancer was higher in Kenosha County than in surrounding counties and the state last year, according to recently released statistics from the Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services.
   Officials say high smoking rates, along with bad air, contribute to such chronic diseases, which in turn put more pressure on area aging services.
   Over the past 10 years, Kenosha County’s emphysema mortality rate for seniors has been almost consistently higher than that of Racine and Milwaukee counties and the state as a whole.
   Sixty-seven seniors over 65 died of emphysema in Kenosha County in 2004, compared to 65 in Racine County. That’s a rate of 386 per 100,000 people in Kenosha County, compared to a rate of 276 in Racine and 279 statewide.
   Lung cancer mortality rates in 2004 for Kenosha County seniors were 374 per 100,000, compared to 335 in Racine and 292 statewide.
   Kenosha Area Family and Aging Services Executive Director Gary Brown said such statistics show the greater needs for older adults in Kenosha County compared to other counties. Area senior services don’t meet the needs to the population today, and as the first baby boomers turn 60 in 2006, it’s only going to get worse.
   “We’re not taking care of everyone who needs services today,” he said. “This is just another piece of the puzzle on how we need to cope with the coming age explosion that we’re going to see. Everybody needs to be living healthier and taking care of themselves.”
   A recent University of Wisconsin Health Population Institute survey found 34 percent of Kenosha County adults smoke. And with ozone problems, that gives the area some of the worst air around.
   “Kenosha County is probably the worst county in the state of Wisconsin to be smoking cigarettes,” Brown said.
   Although Brown’s agency is just beginning to gather health data on its clients, he said health problems are prevalent among current and former smokers.
   “We’ve got a lot of people who have quit, but there are also people who have smoked for many years and are feeling the effects of that later in life,” he said.
   But, Brown said, it stresses him out when he picks up his daughter from high school and sees a group of kids smoking.
   “What’s going on in Kenosha County?” he said. “Why aren’t more people getting the message? Why aren’t more people quitting smoking? We don’t need 34 percent of our population saying they smoke.”
   Brown wondered why state funding couldn’t be allocated according to the needs of seniors in a county rather than just the number of seniors.
   But County Aging Services Director LaVerne Jaros said factoring in health information would make funding “really complicated.”
   But the division has a growing interest in prevention programs, she said, and it has applied for grants specifically for health programs.
   One such program, the Chronic Disease Self Management program, is a six-week class that teaches seniors with chronic diseases, like emphysema, skills to help them cope and live healthier.
   “It was found to be effective in helping persons with chronic illnesses better manage their diseases,” Jaros said, adding that it improves their communication with physicians and reduces hospitalizations. More than 320 residents have taken the classes over the past 18 months.
   The division has also done a study to determine whether an intervention by a health professional could reduce the incidence of falls in seniors.
   Jaros said the agency hopes to do more health-related programming in the future.
   “It’s probably just the tip of the iceberg on what could be addressed in this area,” she said.