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Cancer Now the # 1 Killer
| The American Cancer Society this week released their annual statistics on cancer. Although the data refer to 2002 (the most recent year with complete data), cancer now exceeds heart disease as the number one killer of Americans under 85 years of age. |
January 21, 2005
Obviously, it is not a goal to be the number one killer, but the data does tell a story. Basically the death rate in people under 85 for both cancer and heart disease has been declining, which is a real improvement. Heart disease shows an even bigger decline than cancer, which is good news. Both declines are probably related to smoking cessation and this trend should continue.
Even more encouraging is the fact that survival from cancer (usually measured in five year increments) has improved from 50% to almost 75% in the last twenty five years or so.
Many improvements need to be made and the American Cancer Society has very ambitious goals for the next ten years. In the meantime, we can concentrate on weight control, dietary management and exercise to improve our chances. How often have we heart that?!
