All Cancers Age-Adjusted Mortality Rate Surpasses Diseases of the Heart

In 1900, the three leading causes of death in the United States were infectious diseases: Pneumonia/Influenza, Tuberculosis, and Gastritis/Enteritis/Colitis. 1 By the mid-20th century, three chronic diseases (Diseases of the Heart, Malignant Neoplasms and Cerebrovascular Disease) were firmly entrenched as the leading causes of death in the U.S. Late in the 20th century, seven of every ten U.S. resident deaths each year were the result of a chronic disease. At that time, the two most common causes of death, Diseases of the Heart and Malignant Neoplasms (All Cancers) accounted for more than 50% of the total deaths annually in the United States. The number of annual deaths attributed to Diseases of the Heart, and the corresponding mortality rate, were both much higher than the corresponding death count/rate for All Cancers. 2 However, over the past decade, the gap between Diseases of the Heart and All Cancers annual death counts and mortality rates has been closing. Declining Diseases of the Heart deaths and mortality ratesattributed to several factors including: improved access to emergency care for acute events, an enhanced portfolio of medications that reduce risk for heart disease deaths, evolving diagnostic and treatment technologies/strategies, and increased public health interventionshave made monitoring mortality data trends of great public health interest.