Cancer Overcomes Heart Disease as Leading Cause of Death

Infarction, stroke and heart failure (cardiovascular disease) have been the leading causes of death worldwide for approximately 50 years. However, according to a recently published study, cancer may rise to the top spot - at least for people aged 35-70.

Twenty-one countries were studied, and those classified as high-income (Canada and Sweden, for example) already have 2.5 times more cancer deaths than cardiovascular diseases. In low-income countries (including India and Pakistan) and most middle-income countries (Brazil, Argentina and Chile are in this group), cardiovascular disease still tops the ranking.

Following more than 160, 000 people for approximately 9 1/2 years, the study found that low-income countries have fewer cardiovascular risk factors compared to the richest. Paradoxically, they had the lowest rates of hospitalization and the use of appropriate medications for circulatory diseases, resulting in more deaths from these causes.

(Source: WebMD Medical Reference / Reproduction)

Most causes of cardiovascular disease are preventable. Factors such as obesity, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, among others, are all treatable - which shows that the central issue in this puzzle is medical care. Darryl Leong, author of the study, says, "It seems very clear that poor access to health services is an important reason for the observed disparity."

Challenges to governments

At Hospitalization rates and use of drugs to treat and prevent heart disease are indicators of access to health services: deaths from stroke and stroke increase when proper treatment fails. Therefore, if all countries should be concerned about providing efficient health services for their population, this is even more important for the poorest.

For cancer deaths, the strategy would be to avoid what is known to cause cancer, such as smoking and alcohol abuse, as well as to get vaccinated against HPV (human papillomavirus) and hepatitis, for example.

THE The biggest weakness of this study, if we may say so, is how much of this pattern can be applied on a global scale. “It will be important to confirm our findings in more countries, ” write the authors. But the great lesson to be learned is that access to medical services and reducing risk factors make all the difference in saving lives.