Heart disease and cancer are responsible for nearly half of all deaths in the U.S., report says - LA Times

http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-causes-of-death-20160629-snap-story.htmlHeart disease and cancer are responsible for nearly half of all deaths in the U.S., report saysWhat are the most common ways to die in America? The answer depends on how old you are, whether you ' re a man or a woman, and your racial and ethnic background, a new report shows.Alzheimer ' s disease accounted for 5% of deaths among U.S. women, for instance, but only 2.1% of deaths among men. Accidents and unintentional injuries caused 39.7% of deaths among people between the ages of 10 and 24, but only 7.4% of deaths for adults between the ages of 45 and 64.Diabetes was responsible for 4.3% of African American deaths and 2.7% of white deaths.Overall,heart disease was the No. 1 cause of death for Americans, killing 614,348 people in 2014, according to a government analysis of all death certificates filed in the country that year. Cancer came in second, causing 591,699 deaths. Together, the two diseases accounted for 45.9% of all deaths in the U.S., the report says.Heart disease and cancer have long topped the list of leading causes of death, and each killed a few thousand more people in 2014 than in 2013. However, while cancer held steady at 22.5% of all deaths in the U.S., the proportion of deaths due to heart disease fell slightly, from 23.5% in 2013 to 23.4% in 2014.The next three leading causes of death — chronic lower respiratory diseases, accidents and unintentional injuries, and s...
Source: Dr Portnay - Category: Cardiology Authors: Source Type: blogs