Ron Hoggan:
> Sent: Tuesday, February 20, 2007 9:08 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Molecular Mimicry
> 
> Hi Phil,
> U.S. death rates are published annually.
> http://www.benbest.com/lifeext/causes.html
> 
> Ray's figure may have been based on an earlier breakdown. For instance,
> in
> 1995, the cancer death rate was 29% and cardiovascular was 36%. Today,
> 95%
> would still be a legitimate claim except for category 15 which is a
> catch-all of "all other causes" that accounts for 17.4%

Thanks for the data, Ron. Yes, those figures jibe with my understanding.
Since most of the "all other causes" tend to be unrelated to immune system
diseases, that puts the percentage of deaths by immune system diseases well
below the 95% figure. 

This 2000 data for the U.S. shows that 29% of deaths were caused by tobacco,
microbes, toxic agents, motor vehicles or firearms:
http://www.csdp.org/research/1238.pdf -- which would also put deaths from
immune system diseases well below the 95% figure. 

My best guess is that Ray meant 95% of deaths from all diseases, not 95% of
all deaths. Tobacco-related deaths alone account for more than 5%. I don't
think Ray would count lung cancer from tobacco smoking as an immune system
disease and tobacco smoking does predate agriculture, I believe.

The data varies over the years, but my guess on a range for U.S. deaths
caused by immune system diseases would be within 50-80%, depending on what
is considered an immune system disease.