4 ms·
Heart disease is the leading cause of death because heart stoppage is the definition of death and the “default” value when the actual cause of death is unknown.
by kweinber 6y ago
Heart disease is the leading cause of death because heart stoppage is the definition of death and the “default” value when the actual cause of death is unknown.
Marking cardiac arrest as cause of death is like filling in the blank with “died by not living anymore”.
Therefore it is not a meaningful stat to say the heart disease is the #1 or #2 cause of death. I cringe when that is used by fitness gurus to justify their videos or when scientific discussions are derailed by making the comparison.
- umanwizard 6y agoSure. Replace that with the third, fourth, or fifth cause of death, and my point is the same.
- kweinber 6y agoNot really. You’d have to replace it with the third, fourth, and fifth COMBINED. Since your point is that Coronavirus concerns are overblown, you might want to reconsider it.