'Falls' one of top causes of death for Chinese men: Lancet

Photo shows police rescue a man who tried to jump off building due to diseases in a hospital in east China's Jiangsu Province on Jan 26, 2010. [Photo/Xinhua]

BEIJING - Falling from a building, intentionally or unintentionally, have emerged as one of the major causes of death among Chinese men, according to a study by The Lancet medical journal.

Among 15 top causes of Chinese mortality over the year between 1990 and 2013, "falls" has outnumbered some cancers as one of the top causes for male's death in some Chinese regions, The Lancet finds.

The Lancet's study came after a rash of suicide among officials in recent years.

The study, published in the United Kingdom-based The Lancet on Oct. 25, were conducted by researchers in China and the United States, including those from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, National Office for Maternal and Child Health Surveillance, and the Seattle-based Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington.

Experts assess levels of and trends in all-cause mortality, causes of death, and years of life lost (YLL) in all 31 provinces, municipality in China's mainland, and Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions.

The number of deaths in China increased from 8.6 million to 9.1 million between 1990 and 2013 but the age-standardized death rate fell by 33.1 percent during the same period, according to the report.

Top causes of death include cerebrovascular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), ischaemic heart disease and lung cancer for both men and women.

For Chinese men, the top 15 causes of death in China overall included three types of injuries -- road injuries, self-harm and falls, the report said.

News of officials committing suicide have been bombarding the screen in recent years.

A report from Beijing News said that at least nine officials died from "unnatural death" in the past month. Latest case includes a city district Party secretary who"accidentally" fell to death from his apartment this week in Guilin of southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.