Leading Causes of Death In America

LAST UPDATED 7/6/2010

Heart Disease Tops CDC "Causes of Death" Statistics

Heart Disease is the Leading Cause of Death in AmericaThe CDC compiles statistics on the "leading causes of death in the US" on an annual basis and the report out this past April (2010) was the completed data for the year 2007. In 2007 the US saw total rates reach an all time low with 2,423,712 deaths over all or 760.2 deaths per 100,000 people. This stat is 2.1 percent better than the year prior and is at a record low.

The average expected life span of new born babies hit an all time high of 77.9 years. Heart disease, as a result of clogged arteries, tops the list followed by cancer, stroke, lung diseases, and accidents.

See this post for more on lowering your cholesterol naturally and minimizing your chances for heart disease.

How To Live Longer

If you want to live a longer life and are interested in increasing longevity you should note the leading causes of death which shorten life in America. It is a great place to learn how to increase life expectancy rates across the board. After all, if 26 percent of all cases are due to Heart Disease and less than one percent are due to Parkinson's Disease it would probably be worth more of your time and energy in dealing with minimizing your risks for heart disease.  If you fear alcohol induced diseases note that they are not even in the top ten causes of death!

For reference purposes the list for the top 10 causes of death in America in 2007 (published in 2010) is as follows. Click through for a break down as appropriate.

Top 10 Leading Causes of Death in America - 2007 (2010)
  1. Heart Disease 616,067 (25.4%)
  2. Cancer 562,875 (23.2%)
  3. Stroke 135,952 (5.6%)
  4. Chronic Lower Respiratory Diseases (Lung Diseases) 127,924 (5.3%)
  5. Accidents 123,706 (5.1%)
  6. Alzheimer's Disease 74,632 (3.1%)
  7. Diabetes 71,382 (2.9%)
  8. Influenza and Pneumonia 52,717 (2.2%)
  9. Kidney Disease 46,448 (1.9 percent)
  10. Septicemia (infection of the blood) 34,828 (1.4 percent)
Combined, the top causes of death in the US for 2007 accounted for 76.2 percent of all deaths combined 76.5 percent of all deaths combined the year prior in 2006. I've said it before; if you can lower your risks for these diseases you will live a longer life. 

The following top causes of death in America were a few of the next highest on the list, numbers 11-15. Minimizing your risks for these will also help you live a longer life however none of these causes of death accounted for more than 1 percent of total US deaths in 2007 by themselves.

Don't Join The Top Causes Of Death List

Heart Disease is the number one cause of death in America as if you hadn't noticed.  You can do yourself a great favor by striving every day to minimize your risk for developing heart disease.  You may also find these posts on heart disease enlightening:
And for even more additional reading let me suggest looking into some of the ways that exercise extends life by minimizing the risks of many of the above mentioned causes. Also I recommend taking a look at some additional easy ways to live longer.

Lastly, if you found this post valuable, I'd like to invite you to sign up for a free email subscription to future Live A Longer Life articles. I hope you'll take the time to do so; it's free to sign up and you can opt out at any time. Just click the subscription link above. Thanks!

Source
CDC Deaths In 2006 Final Data - http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr57/nvsr57_14.pdf
CDC Deaths In 2007 Final Data - http://www.cdc.gov/NCHS/data/nvsr/nvsr58/nvsr58_19.pdf

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Leading Causes of Death

Heart Disease is easily the leading cause of death in America. One of the major contributors to heart disease is cholesterol. See the following posts for more on lowering your risk for heart disease:

How To Lower LDL Cholesterol Levels Naturally