Among high-income countries, US shows slowest progress in reducing risk of chronic disease deaths, new study finds

(CNN) — Among all high-income Western countries, the United States has shown the worst performance in reducing the probability of dying from chronic diseases, a new study finds.

From 2010 to 2019, deaths due to chronic diseases declined in most age groups in the US but increased among adults 20 to 45, “a rare phenomenon in high-income western countries,” according to the study, published Wednesday in the journal The Lancet .

The study, led by researchers at Imperial College London, analyzed data on 185 countries and territories and found that, from 2010 to 2019, the probability of dying by age 80 from a noncommunicable disease — such as cancer, heart disease and stroke — declined in most of those countries, but the decline had slowed compared with the previous decade.

“The risk of dy