The Leading Causes of Death

This section is compiled by Frank M. Painter, D.C.
Send all comments or additions to:    Frankp@chiro.org

If there are terms in these articles you don't understand, you can get a definition from the Merriam Webster Medical Dictionary.   If you want information about a specific disease, you can access the Merck Manual.   You can also search Pub Med for more abstracts on this, or any other health topic.

Careful analysis of the tables listed below will demonstrate that the leading killers are all lifestyle–related, and are preventable. Chronic diseases comprise the three leading causes of death in the United States –– heart disease, cancer, and cerebrovascular disease –– and they account for nearly two thirds of all deaths. Multiple behavioral risk factors such as smoking, poor diet, and lack of exercise often become habitual during youth or early adulthood, and contribute to the development of these chronic diseases over long periods of time.

Our diet is poor since it is composed of foods which are treated with pesticides, picked green, and then processed and treated with preservatives. Our grains are polished of their wheat germ coats, bleached, and then “(re) enhanced” with chemical “vitamins” which our bodies cannot absorb. To paraphrase Dr. Bruce Miller, “Supplementation is no longer an option!” In fact, based on the modern diet, it's the only way we can absorb sufficient nutrients to rebuild our cells, and to offset the stress on our systems from the Environmental Toxins and the other stressors we are exposed to in daily life. Take a look at the   Food Guide Pyramid Page   to see how much you'd need to eat just to stay healthy...and that is only if you were already healthy, and were not exposed to most of the mutagens we are surrounded by!

Other causes of death and disability from injury include: fires and burns; poisoning; drowning; violence, including homicide and suicide; motor vehicle crashes; and lack of use of bicycle helmet, seat belts, and child restraint seats. Injury has a disproportionate impact on children, youth, and young adults. Every day 60 children die from injury, almost 3 children every hour. Each year over 150,000 Americans die from injuries, and 1 in 3 persons suffers a nonfatal injury

Table 1:   Age-adjusted death rates (per 100,000 population) for the 10 leading causes of death, from 1979 to 1991 in the United States

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths	Rate per 100,000
25–44 years – All causes	148,904	177.8
Accidents @ and adverse effects	26,554	31.7
––Motor–vehicle accidents	14,528	17.3
––All other accidents and adverse effects	12,026	14.4
Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection	22,795	27.2
Malignant neoplasms, including neoplasms of lymphatic and hematopoietic tissues	22,147	26.4
Diseases of heart	16,261	19.4
Suicide	12,536	15
Homicide and Legal Intervention	9,261	11.1
Chronic Liver Disease and Cirrhosis	4,230	5.1
Cerebrovascular diseases	3,418	4.1
Diabetes mellitus	2,520	3
Pneumonia and Influenza	1,972	2.4
–– All Other Causes (Residual)	27,210	32.5

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths	Rate per 100,000
65 years and over – All causes	1,717,218	5,071.4
Diseases of heart	612,886	1,810.0
Malignant neoplasms, including neoplasms of lymphatic and hematopoietic tissues	386,092	1,140.2
Cerebrovascular diseases	140,938	416.2
Chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases and allied conditions	91,624	270.6
Pneumonia (98.5% of deaths) and Influenza (1.5%)	73,968	218.4
Diabetes mellitus	46,194	136.4
Accidents @ and adverse effects	30,564	90.3
––Motor–vehicle accidents	7,539	22.3
––All other accidents and adverse effects	23,025	68
Nephritis, Nephrotic Syndrome, and Nephrosis	20,955	61.9
Alzheimer's disease	20,848	61.6
Septicemia	17,340	814.5

From "Mortality Patterns -- United States, 1991" @

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00022217.htm

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Review all deaths and death rates for the 10
leading causes of death by these age groupings

1–4 years	4–14 years
15–24 years	25–44 years
45–64 years	65 and over

Thanks to the Disaster Center for this information!

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Another way to think about how we make ourselves sick is by
looking at this chart of lifestyle-related causes of death

Table 2

The first thing that should stick out is how far down the list germs are...and right behind them are the Pollutants and Toxins   It looks as though our environment, and our health goals have their work cut out for them!

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Since 1-01-1999

Updated 10-21-2010