Top 10 Causes of Death in the United States

The U.S. death rate reached an all-time low in 2014 according to the newest data released by the National Center for Health Statistics. For every 100,000 Americans there were 724.6 deaths, which is down one percent from the previous year.

In addition to the death rate, the full report published June 30 in the National Vital Statistics Reports, also revealed the top 10 causes of death in 2014. They include:

1. Heart disease (23.4% of all deaths)
2. Cancer (22.5%)
3. Chronic lower respiratory diseases (5.6%)
4. Accidents (unintentional injuries; 5.2%)
5. Cerebrovascular diseases (5.1%)
6. Alzheimer's disease (3.6%)
7. Diabetes mellitus (2.9%)
8. Influenza and pneumonia (2.1%)
9. Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, and nephrosis (1.8%)
10. Intentional self-harm (suicide; 1.6%).

When combined, these 10 causes of death represented 74 percent of all U.S. deaths in 2014. The list includes the exact same 10 causes as in 2013.

Data for the report is taken from death certificates filed by funeral directors, attending physicians, medical examiners, and coroners.

Factors like age, sex, race, and Hispanic origin caused the rankings to differ slightly. For example, unintentional injuries was the third leading cause of death for males (6.4%) while it came in sixth for females (3.9%). For both men and women, heart disease was the leading cause of death followed by cancer.

For Americans age 1 to 44 years old, unintentional injury was the leading cause of death. For those between 45 and 64, cancer (30.5%) and heart disease (25.5%) were the top two leading causes of death. The same held true for those over 65 years old.

Heart disease was the number one cause of death for white (23.4%), black (23.7%), and the American Indian and Alaska Native (18.3%) populations. It was the second leading cause of death for the Asian or Pacific Islander (21.6%) population.

Cancer was the leading cause of death for the Asian or Pacific Islander (26.8%) and Hispanic population. It was the second leading cause of death for the white (22.5%), black (22.4%), and American Indian and Alaska Native (17.5%) populations.

HIV/AIDS dropped from the sixth leading cause of death to the eighth among men between 25 and 34 years old. For black men, however, HIV/AIDS remained the sixth leading cause of death and the seventh leading cause of death for Asian/Pacific Islander men and Hispanic men in the same age group. For white men aged 25-34, HIV is not among the top 10 leading causes of death.

For more death rate statistics, read the entire article here.