Summary

Original source:
http://www.forbes.com/lifestyle/health/feeds/hscout/2005/09/13/hscout527928.html

Details

• The overall U.S. death rate decreased by 32 percent between 1970 and 2002, although the absolute number of deaths continued to rise, according to a new report.
• The largest declines were seen in heart disease and stroke, while death rates for diabetes and lung disease or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) increased.
• Cancer deaths also declined, but not nearly enough, stated the authors of the report, appearing in the Sept. 14 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
• "The death rate overall has fallen considerably," said Elizabeth Ward, co-author of the report and director of surveillance research in the department of epidemiology and surveillance research at the American Cancer Society in Atlanta.
• Age-standardized death rates have, in fact, been decreasing since the 1960s.
• This year, for the first time, cancer displaced heart disease as the leading killer of Americans under the age of 85.
• For Americans of all ages, however, heart disease remains the leading killer.
• Ward and her colleagues examined trends in death rates from the nation's six leading causes of death: heart disease, stroke, cancer, COPD, accidents and diabetes.
• The increase in cancer death rates through 1990 probably reflected the continued toll of smoking, while the renewed success against cancer after 1990 reflected gains in tobacco control, as well as early detection and better treatment.
• As for diabetes, more deaths may simply reflect a greater prevalence of the disease, said Dr. Stuart Weiss, a clinical assistant professor of medicine at New York University School of Medicine in New York City.
• Reduced death rates from heart disease also reflect the decline in cigarette smoking, as well as improvements in screening or blood pressure and cholesterol, Ward added.

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