For many years, heart disease has been the number 1 cause of death in the United States.

According to the National Center for Health Statistics, the leading causes of death in the United States in 1950 were, in order – heart disease, cancer, chronic lower respiratory diseases, accidents, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, influenza/pneumonia, kidney disease and septicemia.

According to the CDC, the top leading causes of death in the United States in 1960 were, in order – diseases of the heart, malignant neoplasms and vascular lesions of the central nervous system.

According to JAMA, the top leading causes of death in the United States in 1970 were, in order – heart disease, stroke, cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, accidents and diabetes mellitus.

By 2000, according to the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), the leading causes of death in the United States were, in order – diseases of heart; malignant neoplasms; cerebrovascular diseases; chronic lower respiratory diseases; accidents (unintentional injuries); diabetes mellitus; influenza and pneumonia; Alzheimer’s disease; nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis; and septicemia.

In 2010, according to the NCBI, the leading causes of death in the United States were, in order – diseases of heart; malignant neoplasms; chronic lower respiratory diseases; cerebrovascular diseases; accidents (unintentional injuries); Alzheimer’s disease; diabetes mellitus; nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis; influenza and pneumonia.

Heart disease has been the leading cause of death in America for well over half a century. That’s why there has been so much interest and medical pushing of diets, exercise and watching blood pressure.

America is a nation of overweight and obese people that the medical community has been targeting. Yes, being overweight and obese has other health complications such as stroke and diabetes, but the main emphasis on addressing the weight problems has been to reduce the number of heart related deaths.

America isn’t the only country that has seen heart disease top the death charts for years. It has been the same for many wealthier nations, but that has just changed, according to a new report:

Cancer is now the No. 1 cause of death in wealthy countries, killing twice as many people as heart disease—which remains the leading cause of death for middle-aged adults worldwide, Reuters reports. A new study finds that this “epidemiological transition” is at play in “rich world” countries including Sweden, Canada, Chile, Argentina, Poland, and Turkey; researchers theorize that could be due to improvements in prevention and treatment of heart disease in those countries, CNN reports. “As cardiovascular disease declines in many countries, cancer mortality is likely to become the leading cause of death in the future” across the globe, the study’s senior author says, per Fox News.

If the change is due to medical treatment, then why has cancer moved ahead of heart disease with all of the many advancements in cancer treatments? Fifty years ago, most diagnoses of cancer were a considered to be a death sentence, but today, many cancers have high survivability rates.

Could the change be due to the fact that more people are taking measures to watch what they eat and to get more exercise. Gyms are everywhere. There are more healthy diets out there than ever before. Health food stores are everywhere. There are even a plethora of restaurants who only prepare and serve heart healthy foods.

Could all of this have something to do with why deaths due to heart disease in wealthier countries has dropped to number 2 behind cancer?