Each year the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) lists the most common causes of death in the United States. The CDC collects data from death records around the country and publishes the results in the National Vital Statistics Report. The latest data available are from 2006. One of the key results to come from this data was that the national life expectancy in 2006 increased to the highest it’s ever been: 78.1 years. In addition, 11 of the top 15 causes of death for the previous year decreased in frequency. Death rates per 100,000 persons are listed in parentheses.

The top 15 causes of death in the U.S. for 2006 are:

1. Heart disease (210.2)
2. Cancer (malignant neoplasms; 187.1)
3. Stroke (cerebrovascular disease; 45.8)
4. Lung diseases (chronic lower respiratory disease; 41.6)
5. Accidents (39.3)
6. Alzheimer’s disease (24.4)
7. Diabetes (24.2)
8. Influenza and pneumonia (18.8)
9. Kidney disease (nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, and nephrosis; 15.0)
10. Blood poisoning (septicemia, 11.4)
11. Suicide (10.7)
12. Liver disease (9.1)
13. High blood pressure (hypertension and hypertensive renal disease; 8.0)
14. Parkinson’s disease (6.6)
15. Assault (6.0)

Use the Healia Health Search Engine to find out more information about the above diseases. Also see our Healia Health Guide on Heart Disease and the Healia Health Guide on Alzheimer's Disease.

_{Source: CDC, National VitalStatistics Reports Vol. 56, No. 16. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr56/nvsr56_16.pdf
Photo: aussiegall, Flickr, Creative Commons}