This chart by the New England Journal of Medicine compares the top causes of death in the United States in 1900 and 2010. The shift is fascinating — in little more than a century, humanity has eradicated so many diseases. Others, however, have increased, like cancer and heart disease.
I wonder if these increases are due to environmental factors, the ageing of the population, or erroneous diagnosis in 1900. Dodgy record-keeping could also be a contributor, since there weren’t exactly loads of computers churning data back and forth as today.
Two additional interesting tables:
Top 10 Causes of Death, Years of Life Lost from Premature Death, Years Lived with Disability, and Disability-Adjusted Life-Years (DALYs) in the United States, 2010.
Global DALYs (Disability-Adjusted Life Year) Attributable to the 25 Leading Risk Factors in 1990 and 2010.