Cancer Becomes Top Killer -- Heart Disease Deaths Fall in Those Under 85
Posted on: Friday, 21 January 2005, 12:00 CST
For the first time, cancer has surpassed heart disease as the top killer of Americans under 85, health officials said Wednesday. The good news is that deaths from both are falling, but improvement has been more dramatic for heart disease.
"It's dropping fast enough that another disease is eclipsing it," said Dr. Walter Tsu, president of the American Public Health Association.
The single biggest reason: fewer smokers.
The news is contained in the American Cancer Society's annual statistical report, released Wednesday. In 2002, the most recent year for which information is available, 476,009 Americans under 85 died of cancer compared with 450,637 who died of heart disease.
That trend actually began in 1999, but "this is the first time we've looked at this by age," said Ahmedin Jemal, a cancer society epidemiologist and main author of the report.
Those under 85 comprise 98.4 percent of the population, said Dr. Eric Feuer, chief of statistical research for the National Cancer Institute who also worked on the report.
That means that only the very oldest Americans continue to die of heart disease more than of cancer, a trend that is expected to reverse by 2018, said Dr. Harmon Eyre, the cancer society's longtime chief medical officer.
A third of all cancers are related to smoking, and another third are related to obesity, poor diets and lack of exercise - all factors that also contribute to heart disease.
"We want to send the message: Don't smoke, eat right, exercise and maintain normal weight, and see your doctor for normal checkups," Eyre said.
Source: Commercial Appeal, The
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