Cancer, heart disease death rates fall in the U.S.

The death rates from cancer and heart disease have declined by around 20% over the past two decades, according to the CDC. Researchers looked at data in adults aged 45-64 between 1999 and 2017, and here’s more on what they found:

• Trends by disease: Death rates from cancer declined by 19%. Death rates from heart disease declined by 22% until 2011, but increased by 4% from then to 2017.
• Trends by sex: Men and women experienced the same overall decline in death rates from cancer and heart disease. There was a 3% increase in the rate of deaths from heart disease among men starting in 2011, and a 7% increase among women in 2017.
• Overall trends: Cancer was still the major killer and had a higher death rate compared to heart disease. In fact, the cancer mortality rate in 2017 was nearly 40% higher than that for heart disease.