I'm sensing a new wave of reports on cancer "overtaking" or "surpassing" heart disease as leading cause of death in the US.
Here's your friendly reminder that this is a story about which cause of death is decreasing more quickly.
Here's your friendly reminder that this is a story about which cause of death is decreasing more quickly.
Source for graph is CDC:
cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/m…
I've been looking for a version with more recent data than 2011...if anyone out there has one, please send!
cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/m…
I've been looking for a version with more recent data than 2011...if anyone out there has one, please send!
cnn.com/2018/11/12/hea…
Important to read past the headlines!
"...the overall heart disease mortality rate decreased by 28%...The cancer mortality rate also dropped, though less dramatically"
Important to read past the headlines!
"...the overall heart disease mortality rate decreased by 28%...The cancer mortality rate also dropped, though less dramatically"
Update! @kippwjohnson sent me a prettier, more current version of the age-adjusted death rates:
Update #2! This tweet has led to some good questions and comments about the cause of these declines. I'll weigh in on cancer, since that's more my territory that cardiovascular disease.
To get at the answer, I think looking at death rates by type of cancer is quite illuminating, as in this chart from @MaxCRoser @HannahRitchie02 @OurWorldInData.
Source data from @AmericanCancer: cancer.org/research/cance…
Source data from @AmericanCancer: cancer.org/research/cance…
My takeaway? Overall declines since 1990 are being largely driven by lung cancer, which is being driven by decline in smoking. More modest declines in other cancers (breast, prostate, colon) = mix of lower smoking, improved treatment, screening (esp. colon)
(was totally not expecting this to become my most-read tweet ever)
