Recently the American Cancer Society published its Cancer Facts and Figures 2005, in which it is stated that cancer (and not heart disease) is the number one killer of Americans under 85. (It conceded that when people of all ages are included, heart disease is still number one.)
The American Heart Association could not let this claim stand. It quickly came back with its own statement pointing out that the ACS statistics are correct only when you consider heart disease alone. When you consider all cardiovascular disease (including stroke and other vascular diseases) then cancer remains only the number two killer, even in the under 85 age group. The Cancer Society's publication, the AHA feared, may make people think that only the very oldest Americans die from heart disease, and nothing can be further from the truth. Media reports of the ACS publication seem to bear out this fear.
Having the most frequent or deadliest disease, and being able to say so in marketing materials, is thought to improve fundraising. So this little to-do certainly had the potential for unseemly escalation. However, both philanthropic societies got in touch with their better angels, called a truce, and released a joint statement to clarify their position:
"Some media reports have stated that only the very oldest Americans continue to die of heart disease more than cancer, when in fact heart disease remains the number one killer in some specific age groups, such as men ages 40 to 59 and in older adults age 75 to 84. In addition, cardiovascular diseases (heart disease, stroke and other vascular diseases) continue to be the number one killer overall as well as across most age groups."
DrRich comments:
Most Americans are destined to die of one of these two general categories of disease, so as treatment for one improves, the relative "importance" of the other increases. We remain confident, however, that the sensitivity now on display over whose disease is bigger will not diminish the efforts of these two fine societies to abolish their respective diseases.
