Approximately 75% of all deaths in the US happen attributable to ten diseases that encompass heart disease, cancer, unintentional injuries, chronic lower respiratory disease, stroke and cerebrovascular diseases, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, influenza and pneumonia, kidney disease, and suicide. Over the last five years, the major sources of death in America have remained consistent apart from this year when the novel Coronavirus pandemic has threatened to disrupt that consistency (Lagravinese et al., 2020). Since the COVID-19 pandemic is a relatively new phenomenon, it has not been discussed in this study as one of the leading causes of death in the United States in the last five years. Most of the numbers and percentages employed in this study have been obtained from the CDC report of 2017. Consistent with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there were more than two million registered deaths in the US in 2017.
Heart disease is the main source of death for men and women both in the United States and internationally. A high number of people who pass away attributable to heart disease are men. Heart disease causes about 647,000 deaths each year, which is approximately 24% of all cases. CDC support plans have assisted millions of US residents to manage hypertension and decrease other associated risk aspects. The second cause of death in the US is cancer since it results in the demise of around 599,000 individuals, a proportion of about 21% of all deaths (Lagravinese et al., 2020). Cancer arises the moment cells fail to die at their normal stage, and when the human body is unable to manage the spread of such cells, they may influence the crucial, life-supporting networks and perhaps result in death. Practices to the prevention of cancer in the United States encompass harm lessening (decreasing exposure to known causes), medical interventions (such as vaccines and chemoprevention), and health awareness (encouragement of behaviors linked to diminished cancer risk, for example, avoiding cigarette smoking). This has enhanced the evasion of continued increase of cancer-associated deaths as many people undertake preventive measures.
The third major cause of death in the United States is unintentional injuries. This makes about 170,000 people die each year, which is roughly 6% of all deaths (Lagravinese et al., 2020). To address this problem, the US government has implemented approaches of accident prevention that encompass increasing road and workplace safety awareness, for instance, promoting the use of seatbelt and discouraging driving and operation of machinery after alcohol consumption or use of other drugs. The fourth main cause of death in America is the chronic lower respiratory disease that leads to the death of about 160,000 individuals or 5.7% of all deaths. The government has increased awareness approaches such as smoking cessation that have drastically decreased people’s probability of developing such conditions. The fifth cause of death in the US is stroke and cerebrovascular diseases, which results in about 146,000 people dying every year, around 5.2% of the total deaths (Lagravinese et al., 2020). Some of the preventive measures undertaken by the government to address this problem include the promotion of healthy lifestyle behaviors such as physical exercise, extensive management of risk aspects, and early diagnosis. The new CDC practices seek to prevent close to 1 million cases of stroke and cerebrovascular diseases by 2022.
The five major causes of death in the United States encompass heart disease, cancer, unintentional injuries, chronic lower respiratory disease, and stroke and cerebrovascular diseases. In line with the CDC, there were over two million listed deaths in America in 2017. The US government should support measures recommended by healthcare providers and the CDC seeking to prevent infection and deaths from the major life-threatening diseases and conditions.
Reference
Lagravinese, R., Liberati, P., & Resce, G. (2020). Measuring health inequality in US: A composite index approach. Social Indicators Research, 147(3), 921-946.