Happy Friday! Let’s talk about this!

We have a relatively new database up on STLtoday that describes the ways people in Missouri and Illinois have died. Here’s an excerpt from the introduction to the database, which you can explore by clicking this link:

More than 150,000 people die each year in Missouri and Illinois. The information comes from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which compiles mortality data for the U.S. from death certificates in each state. Some deaths occur from multiple causes, but an overarching cause is determined for almost all deaths. More than 36,000 people in Missouri and Illinois died of some form of cancer in 2004. In St. Louis City, Jackson County, Mo., and Cook County, Ill., more people died from homicides than motor vehicle accidents in 2004.

In my home county in 2004, for example, 10,712 people died. Of those, the lion’s share were by what is described as “natural causes.” Ischemic heart disease was the leading single cause with 2,529 deaths.

I intend to live a good long life and then die in my sleep quietly at home; it isn’t going to be a surprise to anyone. Wish me luck with that.

How do you want to go?