Cancer will soon kill more Americans than heart disease—except in low-income areas
“Roughly 50 years ago, an epidemiologist named Abdel Omran published a theory that suggested that as a country develops, the way its people die changes, too. According to the theory, when countries are still developing, problems like malnutrition, infectious disease, and maternal mortality tend to be significant causes of death, which leads to consequences including shorter life expectancies. As nations become wealthier, life expectancies tend to be longer as people attain more nutritious food, hygiene, and higher qualities of life in general. The leading causes of death tend to shift to non-communicable diseases, like cancer, diabetes, respiratory disease, or heart disease. This theory has played out in the US, parts of Europe, China, and Mexico, and shows that diseases are often directly linked to socioeconomic factors.”