Los Angeles County Has Higher Rates of Death From Heart Disease, Diabetes Than Rest of State

Los Angeles County residents have higher rates of death from heart disease, and diabetes than residents in most other counties in the state, although they fare better when it comes to cancer, according to an annual report card released Monday by the Department of Health and Human Services and the California Conference of Local Health Officers, the Los Angeles Daily News reports. The study rated 58 counties on 30 health indicators that cover the leading causes of death and rates of infectious diseases, poverty and birth outcomes. Los Angeles County ranked 54th for deaths from coronary heart disease, with nearly 215 deaths per 100,000 people, compared with 186 statewide; last year the county recorded nearly 225 per 100,000 people. In addition, the county ranked 46th for deaths from diabetes with 25 deaths per 100,000, compared with 21 statewide; last year the county recorded 24 deaths per 100,000. The report also ranked the county 57th for sexually transmitted diseases because of an increase in AIDS and syphilis cases since 1999. In terms of overall cancer death rates, the county ranked "in the middle," and for lung cancer it ranked 9th with 40 deaths per 100,000 people, below the state average of 45. Overall, the report found that California has met national goals set for 2010 for increasing breast-feeding and decreasing lung cancer, and it "is well on its way" to achieving goals for reducing measles cases and deaths from heart disease and breast cancer, according to the Daily News.