Death from COPD doubles according to new ACS study

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A new American Cancer Society study published in JAMA determined that although death rates for the majority of common diseases have declined, death rates from COPD have doubled during the time period studied, 1969 to 2013.

Deaths from heart disease dropped 68 percent and deaths from stroke dropped 77 percent. Injury-related deaths fell 40 percent, and deaths from cancer and diabetes dropped 18 percent and 17 percent, respectively. But COPD-related deaths jumped 101 percent, according to the report.

“We continue to make progress in reducing death rates from five of the six major causes of death,” said lead researcher Dr. Ahmedin Jemal, the society’s vice president for the surveillance and health services research program. “But the death rate from COPD doubled.”

The report was published Oct. 27, 2015 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.