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Health Conditions That Affect Young People More Than Old People

Everyone knows that as people age into seniority, diseases and physical ailments become par for the course. Past middle age, good health simply gets harder to maintain.

However, some health conditions are more prevalent among younger people than older people. Using data from the World Health Organization, the experts at HealthGrove, a health research site powered by Graphiq, found the top 24 diseases that cause the greatest number of healthy years of life lost for people between the ages of 5-40. These conditions cause more years of healthy life to be lost for people in this age range than for people above it. The list is ranked from fewest to most years of healthy life lost per 100,000 people afflicted by the condition.

Many of these diseases are mental health conditions that tend to surface at different age ranges through young adulthood. Depression tends to rear its ugly head when people are between 20-24 years old, while ADHD tends to show up between 10-14. Though some argue that the prevalence of diseases like depression and ADHD are due to potentially more lenient diagnoses, even if that’s the case, mental health is clearly a significant global issue.

Additionally, the data reflects the global increase in STDs, such as chlamydia and gonococcal infection (gonorrhea). Both of these are treatable, but their prevalence indicates that global improvements in safe sex education still need to be made.

From acne to STDs, here are the 24 diseases that affect younger people more than older people.