A recent University of Washington report noted that various forms of cancer was the leading cause of untimely death among Americans, and the second leading cause of deaths in the country.
The study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, reviewed death records from the National Center for Health Statistics from 1980 to 2014.
Fatalities from heart disease were the second leading cause of premature death and the largest single killer, the report further stated. With respect to geography, it was most prevalent in locales that border the southern part of the Mississippi River.
Meanwhile, death patterns from self-harm and interpersonal violence were highest in parts of Alaska, among Native Americas in the Dakotas and in states towards the southwest. Meanwhile, low risk locales include the upper Midwest, New England, southern Texas, and southern California.
Other causes of death followed more consistent geographic patterns, the report added. For instance, it pointed out that transport-related fatalities were significantly lower in urban areas. In contrast, more such accidents happened in the rural areas.
Further, Christopher JL Murray, author of the study and University of Washington director for Health Metrics and Evaluation, stressed that the modeling study has its limitations.
“In my mind, location does not cause these outcomes…There is variation across communities, and that means there are opportunities to reduce death rates,” Murray noted.
