Cancer next most likely cause of death, followed by stroke and chronic lower respiratory diseases
THURSDAY, Nov. 17, 2016 (HealthDay News) — Heart disease continues to top the list of likely cause of death among Americans, according to research published in the Nov. 18 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
The CDC released data naming the five leading causes of death among Americans under age 80 for 2014. After heart disease, cancer was the most likely cause of death. Rounding out the list were stroke; chronic lower respiratory diseases, such as asthma, bronchitis, and emphysema; and accidents. Nearly two-thirds (63 percent) of deaths in the United States were caused by these five diseases or conditions. Thirty percent of heart disease deaths, 15 percent of cancer deaths, 28 percent of stroke deaths, 36 percent of chronic lower respiratory disease deaths, and 43 percent of accident deaths were preventable, the CDC researchers said.
Between 2010 and 2014, there were declines in three of the five leading causes of preventable deaths. Those declines included: a 25 percent drop in cancer deaths, which was helped by a 12 percent decrease in the age-adjusted death rate from lung cancer; an 11 percent decrease in stroke-related deaths; and a 4 percent decline in preventable heart disease deaths. However, during the same time period, preventable deaths from unintentional injuries rose 23 percent (largely due to drug poisoning and falls), and preventable deaths from chronic lower respiratory disease rose 1 percent.
“Fewer Americans are dying young from preventable causes of death,” Tom Frieden, M.D., M.P.H., director of the CDC, said in an agency news release. “Tragically, deaths from overdose are increasing because of the opioid epidemic, and there are still large differences between states in all preventable causes of death, indicating that many more lives can be saved through use of prevention and treatment available today.”
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