BIOLOGY IN FOCUS

THE SEARCH FOR BETTER HEALTH

Chapter 6 Non-infectious disease

EXTENSION ACTIVITY

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Leading causes of death

HSCCOURSE

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Refer to the table below, showing the leading causes of death in Australia in 2001, and answer the
following questions.

Linked to
page 312
Table 6.3 Leading
gccauses
auses of death in Australia in 2001

Proportion
of total
deaths
Cause of death Males Females Persons (%)

All causes 66 835 61 709 128 544 100.0

Malignant neoplasm (cancer) 20 753 15 997 36 750 28.5

Ischaemic heart disease 13 906 12 328 26 234 20.4

Cerebrovascular diseases (stroke) 4852 7294 12 146 9.4

Chronic lower respiratory disease (including asthma, 3419 2497 5916 4.6
emphysema and bronchitis)

Accidents 3155 1685 4840 3.8

Diabetes mellitus 1639 1439 3078 2.4

Influenza and pneumonia 1184 1518 2702 2.1

Diseases of arteries, arterioles and capillaries (including 1381 1244 2625 2.0
atherosclerosis and aortic aneurysm)

Heart failure 982 1630 2612 2.0

Intentional self-harm 1935 519 2454 1.9

All other causes 13 629 15 558 29 187 22.7

1. Write down the top four causes of death in 2001 in descending order.
2. Ischaemic heart disease caused 20.4% of the total deaths in 2001. Research the meaning of the word ‘ischaemic’.
3. (a) How many infectious diseases are in the top 10 causes of death in 2001? Identify them.
(b) What proportion of the total deaths did they cause?
(c) Suggest reasons why there are so few infectious diseases in the top 10 causes of death in Australia in 2001.
4. (a) For most diseases, the number of deaths in males is higher than in females. Identify those diseases where the number
of deaths is higher in females.
(b) For each of the diseases identified in part (a), calculate the percentage of deaths that were female.
5. (a) Compare the number of deaths caused by accidents for males with the number of deaths for females.
(b) Suggest reasons for this.
6. Describe some strategies that may be effective in reducing the number of deaths due to cancer.

Copyright © 2008 McGraw-Hill Australia. Permission is granted to reproduce for classroom use.