USA VS JAPAN: TOP 10 CAUSES OF DEATH

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	JAPAN		UNITED STATES		Deaths
Cause Of Death	Rnk	Deaths	Rnk	Deaths	Summary
Coronary Heart Disease	1	440,365	1	504,904	- 64,539
Stroke	2	327,302	4	158,520	+ 168,782
Influenza and Pneumonia	3	289,892	11	60,317	+ 229,575
Lung Cancers	4	214,099	5	155,533	+ 58,566
Lung Disease	5	210,019	3	195,387	+ 14,632
Colon-Rectum Cancers	6	154,057	9	61,827	+ 92,230
Alzheimers & Dementia	7	152,973	2	287,198	- 134,225
Stomach Cancer	8	135,499	33	13,077	+ 122,422
Kidney Disease	9	120,308	6	85,861	+ 34,447
Pancreas Cancer	10	99,481	15	44,293	+ 55,188
Liver Cancer	11	78,947	23	27,064	+ 51,883
Other Injuries	12	59,290	25	25,997	+ 33,293
Suicide	13	52,300	12	53,099	- 799
Lymphomas	14	51,781	19	40,281	+ 11,500
Breast Cancer	15	42,463	13	48,671	- 6,208
Other Neoplasms	16	40,622	29	17,743	+ 22,879
Liver Disease	17	38,139	16	43,402	- 5,264
Parkinson's Disease	18	37,634	21	34,491	+ 3,143
Prostate Cancer	19	36,312	20	35,612	+ 699
Oesophagus Cancer	20	33,089	28	17,829	+ 15,260
Endocrine Disorders	21	30,860	14	46,985	- 16,125
Bladder Cancer	22	26,696	26	19,622	+ 7,074
Falls	23	26,157	18	40,418	- 14,261
Leukemia	24	25,811	24	26,966	- 1,155
Drownings	25	22,592	45	4,070	+ 18,522
Oral Cancer	26	22,389	35	11,555	+ 10,834
Inflammatory/Heart	27	22,118	22	32,529	- 10,411
Hypertension	28	17,929	8	65,960	- 48,032
Diabetes Mellitus	29	14,596	10	61,418	- 46,822
Ovary Cancer	30	13,598	31	14,591	- 993
Road Traffic Accidents	31	12,267	17	41,694	- 29,427
Cervical Cancer	32	10,207	38	6,984	+ 3,222
Uterin Cancer	33	9,299	36	10,063	- 764
Tuberculosis	34	9,292	62	546	+ 8,746
Peptic Ulcer Disease	35	7,850	48	3,461	+ 4,389
Skin Disease	36	7,539	43	5,409	+ 2,130
Diarrhoeal diseases	37	7,338	37	9,955	- 2,617
Rheumatoid Arthritis	38	7,033	52	2,461	+ 4,572
Rheumatic Heart Disease	39	6,865	47	3,646	+ 3,219
Congenital Anomalies	40	6,643	34	11,762	- 5,118
Hepatitis C	41	5,963	41	5,684	+ 280
Asthma	42	5,165	46	3,818	+ 1,347
Malnutrition	43	5,131	40	6,762	- 1,631
Skin Cancers	44	4,950	32	14,311	- 9,360
Epilepsy	45	4,187	50	3,162	+ 1,025
Hepatitis B	46	3,823	59	608	+ 3,215
Schizophrenia	47	2,826	57	723	+ 2,103
Fires	48	2,705	49	3,183	- 478
Anemia	49	2,352	51	3,115	- 763
Drug Use	50	1,967	7	74,435	- 72,468
Alcohol	51	1,547	30	14,659	- 13,113
Meningitis	52	827	60	606	+ 221
Violence	53	714	27	18,976	- 18,262
Poisonings	54	684	53	1,674	- 990
Low Birth Weight	55	543	39	6,924	- 6,381
Prostatic Hypertrophy	56	461	58	678	- 217
Upper Respiratory	57	427	65	229	+ 198
Appendicitis	58	338	63	424	- 87
Multiple Sclerosis	59	290	44	5,059	- 4,769
Oral conditions	60	284	64	286	- 1
Birth Trauma	61	281	54	1,233	- 952
Osteoarthritis	62	231	61	579	- 348
HIV/AIDS	63	128	42	5,660	- 5,532
Maternal Conditions	64	104	56	779	- 675
Syphilis	65	43	66	49	- 7
War	66	39	55	1,198	- 1,159
Tetanus	67	25	71	2	+ 23
Otitis Media	68	20	67	34	- 14
Encephalitis	69	13	68	25	- 13
Iodine Deficiency	70	4	73	1	+ 3
Pertussis	71	4	69	16	- 12
Schistosomiasis	72	1	72	1	- 0
Leprosy	73	1	74	0	+ 1
Diphtheria	74	0	75	0	- 0
Measles	75	0	80	0	- 0
Trypanosomiasis	76	0	78	0	- 0
Leishmaniasis	77	0	79	0	- 0
Chagas disease	78	0	70	4	- 4
Malaria	79	0	77	0	- 0
Chlamydia	80	0	84	0	- 0
Hookworm Disease	81	0	81	0	- 0
Ascariasis	82	0	82	0	- 0
Dengue	83	0	76	0	- 0
Trichuriasis	84	0	83	0	- 0
Depression	85	0	86	0	- 0
Vitamin A Deficiency	86	0	85	0	- 0
TOTAL DEATHS

Note: Population is Equalized to USA

Japan

United States

THE INTELLECTUAL EXERCISE

The point of this intellectual exercise is to measure what would happen if two countries shared the same leading causes of death. To make these comparisons possible we equalized the population and used total deaths for each country's top 10 causes to simulate an "Exchange." Use the chart on the left to sort by the country name and use the summary plus and minus column to measure the differences in total deaths.

Life Expectancy statistics are calculated the same way everywhere in the world, but what we die from can be very different depending upon where we live. Despite these differences, with rare exception, the top 10 causes of death for any given country will represent between 70-80% of their total deaths. This is an intellectual exercise only, not a comparison of which country is healthier or to challenge existing life expectancy rankings. If you prefer to see total deaths for over 80 causes and choose your own countries to compare go here: https://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/world-rankings-total-deaths

ABOUT OUR DATA

All meaningful comparisons between countries should be made using the same data source and year. The most reliable source for International comparisons is the World Health Organization because it is standardized for cross cultural comparisons. It is also reviewed annually, which often makes it more current than individual country data that can take years to compile. The WHO data includes individual country "projections," that are calculated based upon an annual consultation with each country before it is published. There are differences however, such as WHO data separates different forms of heart disease and cancer and combines Alzheimer's with Dementia. In this top 10 comparison WHO data for both countries was used.