Top Ten Causes of Death - Top 10 Causes of Death (2005)

(2001 statistics from the 2004 World Almanac - unless otherwise noted)

While homicides, national tragedies & AIDS get the most press, the top causes of death are heart diseases, cancer and diabetes. Get Fit Through Gardening, a healthy lifestyle, could impact the causes of over 1.3 million deaths per year!

2003 Statistics.

Rank	Causes of death	All persons
1.	Diseases of heart	685,089
2.	Malignant neoplasms (cancer)	556,902
3.	Cerebrovascular diseases	157,689
4.	Chronic lower respiratory diseases	126,382
5.	Unintentional injuries	109,277
6.	Diabetes mellitus	74,219
7.	Influenza and pneumonia	65,163
8.	Alzheimer's disease	63,457
9.	Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, and nephrosis	42,453
10.	Septicemia	34,069
	Total:	2,448,288

 Source: U.S. National Center for Health Statistics, Health, United States, 2005.

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* Car accidents: About half are due to alcohol.

** Suicides again were not in the top ten (In 1997 they were #8  with ~ 30,000), 2000 statistics were 10.4 per 1,000 people.

Homicides were 15,530 in 1999, far out of the top ten. This is a 34% drop since 1990. I did not find the Total Homicide deaths for 2001, but the Total firearm deaths were 28,663 in 2000. I find the numbers surprisingly low considering the national focus on murder.

** Liver Disease is off the list this year as well (estimate around 25,000). 

** Diabetes Type II (Adult onset) is highly correlated with overweight, lack of exercise, poor diet and hypertension.

*** Chronic Lower Respiratory disease is highly correlated with cigarette smoking

*** Accidents are not impacted by Get Fit Through Gardening.

*** Pneumonia & Influenza are not directly impacted by Get Fit Through Gardening.

Note: Deaths from Aids has dropped significantly in the last few years with approximately 24,014 in 1998, I think there were around 21,000 in 1999 (not positive on that fact).

While homicides, national tragedies & AIDS get the most press, the top causes of death are heart diseases, cancer and diabetes. Get Fit Through Gardening, a healthy lifestyle, could impact the causes of over 1.3 million deaths per year!

* Car accidents: About half are due to alcohol.

** Suicides dropped out of the top ten (They have historically been around #8) with ~ 30,000, About 500,000 people attempt suicide with more females attempting but males are more successful (1998 - male suicides: 24,538), (1998 - female suicides: 6,037)

Homicides were 15,530 in 1999, far out of the top ten. This is a 34% drop since 1990. I find this an astounding statistic considering the national focus on murder.

** Liver Disease is off the list this year as well (estimate around 25,000). 

** Diabetes Type II (Adult onset) is highly correlated with overweight, lack of exercise, poor diet and hypertension.

*** Chronic Lower Respiratory disease is highly correlated with cigarette smoking

*** Accidents are not impacted by Get Fit Through Gardening.

*** Pneumonia & Influenza are not directly impacted by Get Fit Through Gardening.

Note: Deaths from Aids has dropped significantly in the last few years with approximately 24,014 in 1998, I think there were around 21,000 in 1999 (not positive on that fact).

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What's the Point?: That, conservatively, over 60% of the nation's deaths are related to lifestyle - specifically diet and exercise.  

While homicide and AIDS get the most press, the top causes of death are heart diseases, cancer and diabetes. Get Fit Through Gardening, a healthy lifestyle, Get Fit Through Gardening could impact the health of millions of sedentary Americans. It looks funny, it sounds funny --- but this idea could really make a difference in thousands of peoples' lives.

Maybe we should be talking more about a solution instead of problems (murder, mayhem, racial strife, etc...)

Other Statistics of Interest
Total Population  (2000)	281 million
Life Expectancy Male (1999)	73.8
Life Expectancy Female (1999)	79.5
Percent of people without Health Insurance (1999)	15.5%
Marriages (1999)	2,358,000
Divorces (1999)	1,135,000
Abortions - 1997 (latest figures)	1,186,039
Abortions - 1995	1,210,883
Abortions - 1990	1,429,577
In Prison (2000)	1,381,892

Death From Aids
1993	102,082
1994	77,092
1995	70,839
1996	66,398
1997	58,254
1998	24,014 (2000 Almanac)

Note: The homicide rate has declined steadily since 1993. Homicide dropped off the top ten list since the 1998 World Almanac and has not returned. .
 

Homicide Rate
1993	24,530
1994	23,330
1995	21,610
1996	19,650
1997	18,210
1998	16,910  (2000 Almanac)

* Car accidents are less than 42,000 per year. About half are due to alcohol.

** Stroke is a cerebrovascular disease.

** Diabetes Type II (Adult onset) is highly correlated with overweight, lack of exercise, poor diet and hypertension.

*** Chronic obstructive lung disease is highly correlated with cigarette smoking

*** Accidents are not impacted by Get Fit Through Gardening.

*** Pneumonia & Influenza are not directly impacted by Get Fit Through Gardening.

For more information, my books, Get Fit Through Gardening (2008) and Fitness the Dynamic Gardening Way, are available!

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