Death Rates in The 20th Century - Cause of Death

Cause of Death

Throughout he 20th century in the developed world, the leading causes of death transitioned from infectious diseases such as influenza, to degenerative diseases such as cancer or diabetes. In 1900, the leading cause of death in the United States was influenza with 202.2 deaths per 100,000 people followed by tuberculosis with 194.4, which is an easily curable illness today. In the middle of 20th century America, the leading cause of death was heart disease with an impressive 355.5 deaths per 100,000 followed by cancer at 139.8 deaths per 100,000. Although death rates dropped significantly in the latter part of the 20th century, the leading killers are still constant. The United States saw 129.9 people per 100,000 die from heart disease in 2010 followed by cancer with 185.9 people per 100,000.

The world population in the 20th century experienced a large amount of death due to two major world wars. World War II was responsible for the most war related deaths in the 1900's with a death toll between 40,000,000 and 72,000,000 deaths. Other predominate wars in the 1900's include World War I with up to 65,000,000 deaths, the Russian Civil War with up to 9,000,000 deaths, the Afghan Civil War with up to 2,000,000 deaths, and the Mexican Revolution with up to 2,000,000 deaths. Several other major wars took place in the 20th century, such as the Iran-Iraq war, the Soviet War in Afghanistan, the second Sudanese civil war, the Korean War, and the Vietnam war.