“Civilization-associated” diseases in Europe and industrial countries outside of Europe: Regional differences and trends in mortality

Abstract

In the present study, the causes of early death among men and women 55 to 64 years old in the countries of Europe, the United States, Canada, Japan, and Australia were compared for the period 1958 to 1976. Evaluation of the death rates from heart diseases, cerebrovascular diseases, cancer of the stomach, cancer of the lung, cirrhosis of the liver, and all causes has provided the following picture for the 26 countries studied. In 1976, the highest death rate for all causes examined for a single country was almost two times that for the country showing the lowest figure. For the individual causes of death the highest figure was between three and eight times the lowest. The death rates for men were one and one-half to three times those for women (average of all countries considered); for lung cancer the sex ratio was 7 to 1, males to females. When the individual countries were compared, the percentage changes in death rates between 1958 and 1976 ranged from a reduction by 70% to an increase of four times the 1958 figures. When comparing both sexes, the percentage change was as follows: For women, the relative reduction of total mortality was five times that for men and for cerebrovascular diseases, double. For cancer of the stomach, the reduction was almost the same for both sexes. The relative rise in cirrhosis of the liver among men was about twice that among women, whereas the increase in lung cancer in women was twice as high as that in men. There was an average increase in heart disease among men of 11% but an average reduction among women of 16%. Although the greatest reduction of heart diseases and the second greatest reduction of total mortality among men have taken place in the United States, there are a number of other countries where a similar development of overall mortality was observed. The extreme reduction observed for Japan deserves special attention.