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Agence France-Presse

Cancer has become the leading cause of death in rich nations, overtaking heart disease, according to the results of two landmark, decade-long global surveys of health trends released on Tuesday.
Heart disease remains the leading cause of mortality among middle-aged adults globally, accounting for more than 40 per cent of deaths, the data showed.
It was thought to have been responsible for around 17.7 million deaths in 2017.
But in richer countries, cancer now kills more people than heart disease, according to the twin studies published in The Lancet medical journal.
Dengue fever – the fight to halt deadly outbreak sweeping Asia
“The world is witnessing a new epidemiologic transition among the different categories of non-communicable diseases, with cardiovascular disease no longer the leading cause of death in high-income countries,” said Gilles Deganais, emeritus professor at Laval University, in Quebec.
He said his team’s study showed that cancer was the second most common cause of death globally in 2017, accounting for just over a quarter of all deaths.
Deganais said that as heart disease rates fell globally, cancer could become the leading cause of death worldwide “within just a few decades”.
The study followed more than 160,000 adults, in high-, middle-, and low-income countries over the course of decade. It determined that people in poorer nations were on average 2.5 times more likely to die from heart disease than those in richer ones.

It conversely found that non-infectious diseases such as cancer and pneumonia were less common in low-income states than in richer ones.
A second study, also by researchers in Canada, and looking at data from patients in the same 21 countries, found that so-called “modifiable risk factors” accounted for 70 per cent of heart disease cases globally.
These included diet, behavioural and socioeconomic factors, they said.
Metabolic risk factors – high cholesterol, obesity or diabetes – caused more than 40 per cent of all heart disease, and were by far the biggest determinant of disease in richer nations.

But there was also a strong link between heart disease in developing countries and household air pollution, poor diet and low education levels.
“A change in tack is required to alleviate the disproportionately high impact of cardiovascular disease in low- and middle-income countries,” said Salim Yusuf, professor of medicine at McMaster University.
“Governments in these countries need to start investing a greater portion of their gross domestic product in preventing and managing non-communicable diseases including cardiovascular disease, rather than focusing largely on infectious diseases.”


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Disease

Cancer now leading cause of death in rich countries, studies find

The study followed more than 160,000 adults in a variety of countries over the course of decade. Photo: EPA

Consumer Council holds a press conference regarding issues and concerns over dangerously high levels of trans fats found in 19 Hong Kong baked goods, posing risk of heart disease, at the Consumer Council headquarters in North Point. 17JUN19 SCMP / Roy Issa

FILE PHOTO: Cancer cells are seen on a large screen connected to a microscope at the CeBit computer fair in Hanover, Germany, March, 6, 2012. REUTERS/Fabian Bimmer/File Photo

Dengue fever: progress made in fight to halt deadly outbreak sweeping Asia

Wolbachia-carrying mosquitoes released near Guangzhou by Zhiyong Xi’s team at the Sun Yat-sen University-Michigan State University Joint Centre of Vector Control for Tropical Diseases. Photo: Alamy

A medical worker displays vials of Sanofi's dengue vaccine Dengvaxia at a health center in the district of Manila on December 5, 2017, following the suspension of the country's public dengue immunisation programme. - Philippines has suspended the sale and distribution of Sanofi's dengue vaccine, authorities said on December 5, after the French pharmaceutical giant last week warned it could worsen symptoms for people who had not previously been infected. (Photo by Ted ALJIBE / AFP)

This photo taken on March 2, 2018 shows Lilia Alcabasa, the mother of Leiden Alcabasa, 12, whose parents believe their son's death was directly related to his being injected with the anti-dengue fever vaccine Dengvaxia, crying during an interview in her house in Calamba, Laguna, south of Manila. - While Dengvaxia's maker Sanofi has said unequivocally that its world-first anti-dengue fever vaccination is safe, Philippine authorities disagree publicly over whether it could have contributed to children's deaths. The resulting confusion has prompted a dangerous plunge in vaccination rates in the Philippines for other diseases. (Photo by Noel CELIS / AFP) / TO GO WITH Philippines-health-dengue-vaccine, FOCUS by Cecil MORELLA

A municipal worker fumigates a residential area against the Aedes aegypti mosquito as a preventive measure against the spread of the dengue fever in Bangkok on February 5, 2016.  Health experts have also warned Asia is particularly vulnerable to the Zika virus, given that the Aedes aegypti mosquito -- which carries Zika, dengue fever and the chikungunya virus -- thrives in its congested cities.   AFP PHOTO / Christophe ARCHAMBAULT (Photo by CHRISTOPHE ARCHAMBAULT / AFP)

A boy underneath a mosquito net plays with a Santa Claus stuffed toy in Manila on October 13, 2018. (Photo by NOEL CELIS / AFP)

Children from Townsville took part in the project, helping to release the infected mosquitoes into their breeding areas. Photograph: Courtesy of World Mosquito Program

This photograph taken on February 7, 2017 shows male Wolbachia-carrying mosquitoes feeding on sugar in its enclosure at National Environmental Agency (NEA) mosquitoes production facility in Singapore. - Singapore is experimenting with using male Wolbachia-carrying mosquitoes to control the insects population. The  bacteria, which occurs naturally in most insects, renders mosquitos infertile and helps cap the population of the dengue-spreading insect. Despite having one of the highest standards of healthcare in Asia, dengue is endemic in hot and humid Singapore. (Photo by ROSLAN RAHMAN / AFP)

Professor Scott O’Neill, 56, is the director of the nonprofit World Mosquito Programme, in charge of developing and refining a self-sustaining dengue-blocking method

Fruit juices, soft drinks high in sugar linked with raised cancer risk in big new study by French researchers

KXFBC3 Child drinking unhealthy sweet bottled soda

FJ59PN Unhealthy food concept - sugar in carbonated drinks. High amount of sugar in beverages

Graham Wheeler, senior statistician of the Cancer Research UK . CREDIT: Twitter / @Graham Wheeler

Consuming soft drinks and fruit juices, which are high in sugar, is linked to an increased risk of cancer by new research. Photo: Alamy

Cutting down on red meat, eggs could aid cancer treatment, new study finds

A study on mice found restricting intake of an amino acid found in red meat and eggs significantly enhanced cancer treatment. Photo: Alamy

Jason Locasale.Photo: HANDOUT[FEATURES 2019]

Paul Pharoah.Photo: HANDOUT[FEATURES 2019]

PCP454 Young man at home on a healthy diet

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Heart disease remains the leading cause of mortality among middle-aged adults globally, accounting for more than 40 per cent of deaths
But twin studies published in The Lancet medical journal found that in richer countries, cancer now kills more people



Heart disease remains the leading cause of mortality among middle-aged adults globally, but in richer countries cancer now kills more people.


Wellness

Medicine