What is the leading cause of death in the US? And can anything be done to prevent it?
Death.
It is as uncomfortable to talk about, as it is to think about happening to us, or the ones we love. It brings us sad memories of those who have left us, and anxiety over those we are most afraid of losing.
In the past, when life expectancy was low, death was accepted as the natural order. It was planned for without reservation, and often a cause for celebration. Today, the only time most people think about death is when the subject of wills and advanced directives come up. But the conversations rarely last long on these topics. Unless of course someone is trying to sell you life insurance!
Then why do a study on such a morbid topic?
Knowing the leading causes of death is important for several reasons. It helps biotech and pharmaceutical companies decide where to focus their research. It helps government outreach programs to know which areas are more in need of services. It helps further surgical intervention breakthroughs. And it also helps us make better lifestyle choices.
Life expectancy in the United States is roughly 78 years. Which seems like a pretty robust number until you compare it to other countries. By contrast, Canadians can expect to live closer to 82 years, while Japanese citizens average closer to 84 years.
Increases in life expectancy are generally attributed to advances in surgical interventions and pharmaceuticals. But an alarming trend is being recognized today. Patients believe that medicine has advanced enough to offset any negative effects of poor lifestyle choices. While it is true that deaths from heart disease have declined, the data I have collected will show that the total number of deaths are still alarmingly high.
So let’s go ahead and take a look at some graphs:
We can see heart disease and cancer are the two biggest leading causes of death among people living in the United States.
Together, the two are responsible for about 60% of the total deaths in the US.
Combined with the fourth most common cause -chronic lower respiratory diseases- the three diseases account for about 68% of all deaths in the US. All three of which can be prevented with healthier lifestyle choices.
In fact, 6 of the top 10 leading causes of death are from preventable chronic illnesses.
So now let’s take a look at the same data by state
This representation shows the breakdown of causes of death in order by the total amount of deaths by state. After taking into account the population differences of the states, you can see that the leading causes of death in all 50 states are pretty equally proportioned. It gives you a basic idea of the nation wide distribution of the leading causes of death. But unfortunately the smaller population states are not really well represented in this graph.
Here is the same data as above, but this time standardized across all of the states. With this visual it is much easier to see the true breakdown of the leading causes of death by state.
As you can see, heart disease and cancer are the most common causes of death across all 50 states.
Let’s look closer at the top two leading causes of death.
Heart Disease: is a term used to describe several cardiovascular diseases, many of which are attributed to plaque buildup inside the walls of the arteries.
Cancer: is described as the uncontrolled growth and spread of abnormal cells. The two major types that can be prevented are lung and skin cancer. Lung cancer is far and away the most prevalent type of cancer seen in patients.
“An ounce of preventions is worth a pound of cure” ~Benjamin Franklin
So what can you do to beat the odds and live the longest life you possibly can?
While every cause of death is not preventable, there is a lot you can do to lower your risks. Many of the leading causes of death in the US are avoidable with some lifestyle changes.
What are these lifestyle changes? Well, they definitely aren’t a secret, and we’ve all heard them at least once in our lives:
- Eat healthy
- Exercise more
- Stop smoking
- Consume alcohol in moderation
- Lose weight
- Avoid direct exposure to UV rays for extended periods of time
Unfortunately medicine hasn’t progressed to a point where these diseases are completely treatable. So if you like to hedge your bets with the length of your life, it’s probably a good idea to stop reading this and go take a walk.