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The Unacceptable Toll of Meat, Alcohol and Cigarette Consumption on Human Life |
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Below is a statistical analysis of the heavy cost for humankind of consuming meat, alcohol and cigarettes. Are we willing to allow these behaviors to continuously destroy the fabric of our personal lives and society, making planet Earth a miserable habitat for both humans and animals?
The Real Cost of Alcohol |
| Life: |
- 1,800,000 deaths per year worldwide
- 60 Million years of life lost per year8
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| Heartbreak |
- Child abuse: 50% of cases
- Violence toward loved ones: 30% of cases
- Violent acts: 40–80% of cases
- Suicides: 20-50% of cases9
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| Brain Damage |
- Alcoholic blackouts: forgetting all or part of what occurred while drinking
- Sleep disorders: fragmented sleep
- Amnesia and Dementia: learning disabilities; recent and long-term memory loss; impairment in visuospatial, abstract and conceptual reasoning
- Brain volume shrinkage
*Temporal Cortex (hearing, comprehension, speech)
*Hippocampus (memory, navigation); Cerebellum (coordination, equilibrium) 10; Subcortical layers (long-term memory) 11
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| Organ failure |
- Eyes (tobacco-alcohol-related amblyopia ['lazy eye']); heart, liver, kidneys esophagus, stomach, small intestine, pancreas, nerves, blood cells, muscles, bones, sex organs, endocrine glands
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| Birth defects |
- Mental Retardation: leading cause in Western countries
- Fetal Alcohol Syndrome: Stunted growth; facial deformity
- Sudden Infant Death Syndrome
- Miscarriage12
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The True Price of Cigarettes |
| Life |
- 5,000,000 deaths per year worldwide
- 61,000,000 years of life lost per year13
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| Health |
- Lungs, pharynx, larynx, cardiovascular system, brain, skin, oral cavity, gastrointestinal tract, pancreas, blood diseases
- Loss of sight, hearing and sense of smell
- Lack of energy, poor concentration, depression
- Bad breath, loss of teeth and hair
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| Loved ones |
- Harming others through secondhand smoke
- Children have a higher risk of asthma, sudden infant death syndrome, bronchitis and ear infections14
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The High Cost of Meat Consumption |
Human Lives (Year 2002) |
| Cause |
# Total Deaths
(Unit: million) |
% from Eating Meat |
# Meat-related Deaths
(Unit: million) |
| All Causes |
57.03 |
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| Cardiovascular disease |
16.73 |
851 |
14.20 |
| Cancer |
7.12 |
602 |
4.27 |
| Infectious diseases |
10.90 |
613 |
6.60 |
| Diabetes |
0.99 |
504 |
0.50 |
25.57 million Total Years of Life Lost = 162 million
Source: World Health Report 2004, World Health Organization5 |
Medical Costs (USA only): $30-60 billion per year
Source: "The medical costs attributable to meat consumption," Prev. Medicine. 1995 Nov; 24(6):656-7.6 |
Animal Lives: 424 billion
Source: 2005 FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization, United Nations 7 |
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