evidence: Heart Disease and Cancer Deaths — Trends and Projections in the United States, 1969–2020 [...] Heart disease and cancer are the first and second leading causes of death in the United States. Age-standardized death rates (risk) have declined since the 1960s for heart disease and for cancer since the 1990s, whereas the overall number of heart disease deaths declined and cancer deaths increased. We analyzed mortality data to evaluate and project the effect of risk reduction, population growth, and aging on the number of heart disease and cancer deaths to the year 2020. [...] You are advising a large public health department about expected mortality rates in coming years. According to the review of mortality data, population estimates, and population projections by Weir and colleagues, which of the following statements about the overall effects of risk reduction and population growth and aging on the projected number of heart disease and cancer deaths to the year 2020 is correct?