World
 Date Rate by country at: UMSL

According to the World Health Organization's 1997 World Health Report,
 life expectancy averages 64 years in the developing nations 
 and is approaching 80 years in some industrial nations.

All countries - 2002:

	

		
Rank
 
Cause
 
Total
(thousands)
 
% of total
	
	

		
1.
 
Ischaemic heart disease
 
7,208
 
12.6%
	
	

		
2.
 
Cerebrovascular disease
 
5,509
 
9.7
	
	

		
3.
 
Lower respiratory infections
 
3,884
 
6.8
	
	

		
4.
 
HIV/AIDS
 
2,777
 
4.9
	
	

		
5.
 
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
 
2,748
 
4.8
	
	

		
6.
 
Diarrheal diseases
 
1,798
 
3.2
	
	

		
7.
 
Tuberculosis
 
1,566
 
2.7
	
	

		
8.
 
Malaria
 
1,272
 
2.2
	
	

		
9.
 
Cancer of trachea/bronchus/lung
 
1,243
 
2.2
	
	

		
10.
 
Road traffic accidents
 
1,192
 
2.1%
	
	

		
11.
 
Childhood diseases
 
1,124
 
2.0
	
	

		
12.
 
Other unintentional injuries
 
923
 
1.6
	
	

		
13.
 
Hypertensive heart disease
 
911
 
1.6
	
	

		
14.
 
Self-inflicted
 
873
 
1.5
	
	

		
15.
 
Stomach cancer
 
850
 
1.5
	
	

		
16.
 
Cirrhosis of the liver
 
786
 
1.4
	
	

		
17.
 
Nephritis/nephrosis
 
677
 
1.2
	
	

		
18.
 
Colon/rectum cancer
 
622
 
1.1
	
	

		
19.
 
Liver cancer
 
618
 
1.1
	
	

		
20.
 
Measles
 
611
 
1.1
	

Source: The World Health Report, 2003, The World Health Organization (WHO).

Causes of Death for Developing Countries (1990)
1	Lower Respiratory Infections (1)
2	Heart Disease
3	Strokes & Lung Cancer
4	Diarrheal Diseases
5	Conditions During Perinatal Period
6	Tuberculosis
7	Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (2)
8	Measles
9	Malaria
10	Traffic Accidents

(2) Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is an umbrella term used to describe airflow obstruction that is associated mainly with emphysema and chronic bronchitis.

See Population Page for history of Death Rates.

Estimated risk for an American over a 50-year period.

(3) Chronic lower respiratory diseases include different kinds of bronchitis, emphysema (16,418), asthma, bronchiectasi and other Chronic Obstructive Lung Diseases (COLD). Sometimes refered to a Pulmonary disease.

(4) Deaths from Medical Errors and Adverse Drug Reactions are not reported as a separate category by the CDC. They categorize these deaths elsewhere (not sure where), so this total should not be added to calculate a total death rate. Dr. Mercola reports 120,000 deaths. The Institute of Medicine reported Medical Mistakes account from 44-98,000 deaths per year.
See more at Health > Medical Mistakes.

(5) Although blood poisoning can result from infected surgical incisions, wounds, or burns, other types of infection can release enough bacteria into your blood to create septicemia. Such conditions may range from urinary tract infections or pneumonia to boils and abscessed teeth or gum problems. It may precede or coincide with infections of the bone (osteomyelitis), central nervous system (meningitis), or other tissues.

(6) Alcohol, drug & firearms related deaths are reported in "National Vital Statistics Reports" (see above), but are counted in other categories (e.g. firearms is lumped into all homicides, Alcohol may be included in liver disease, auto accidents, etc.) .
The CDC page with this data is no longer available but it is listed at thedoctorslounge.net/medlounge/articles/obesity_death/

(7) The "National Vital Statistics Reports" from the CDC reported Alcohol Related deaths 19,423 (0.8%) [I couldn't find what the difference between Alcohol Consumption and Alcohol Related was.

(8) Obesity = poor diet and physical inactivity. In March 2004 the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) published a CDC report that said poor diet and physical inactivity caused 400,000 deaths in 2000, up from 300,000 a decade earlier, and it would surpass tobacco as the leading cause of death in 2005, but in November they reported that the study was flawed and in the January 19, 2005 issue they ran a correction in the JAMA saying the number was 365,000.
Even so Obesity deaths increased 22% from 1990 to 2000.

(9) Smoking deaths should decrease as fewer people take up smoking.
Smokers (US): 1965: 62%, 1975: 43%, 1985: 33%, 1995: 27%, 2005: 25%
Source: www.lungusa.org/atf/

See: Chronic Disease Prevention - Improving Nutrition and Increasing Physical Activity and Healthy People 2000 , Chronic Disease Overview, Chronic Diseases as Causes of Death at the CDC.

The National Cancer Institute estimates that tobacco accounts for 30% of cancers, and dietary factors account for another 35%.

See Also: CureResearch.com and Hu's Index Death Rate

Murders

Age Statistics

Death Rate by Age

Source: National Vital Statistics Reports - Vol. 51, No. 5 from the CDC Table 1, pg. 7

Life Expectancy by Age US 2001 (All races)

Trends over Time

See the Population Page for.
The increases from 1900 to 1950 were primarily due to reduced infant mortality; in 1900 20% died before the age of 10, in 1940 it was reduced to 10%. (The cause may be more to increased living standards, education and lower birth rates than to medical care) and infectious disease control from antibiotics, and public health improvements such as pasteurized milk, clean water, etc.
The increases from 1960 to 2000 had more to due with the older population and improved cardiovascular disease treatments. Infant mortality reduction continued to to better treatments for premature (low birth weight) babies.
See: The Production of Health at the Institute for Public Administration at U. Delaware.

Accidents and violence now account for two-thirds of all deaths of Americans one to nineteen years-of-age.

The Boston College Report Why is life expectancy so low in the US says of the low US expectancy:
"The obesity rate appears to be a key factor. Among Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries, the United States had the highest obesity rate for men (28%) and the second highest for women (34%) in 1999. The median rates were 12% for men and women. Japan had the lowest rates 4% of women and 2% of men are considered obese"

Life Expectancy at birth - (sample of developing countries)

• In the United States, some groups, such as Native Americans, rural African Americans and the inner city poor, have extremely poor health, more characteristic of a poor developing country rather than a rich industrialized one.
• The HIV epidemic causes a higher proportion of death and disability to U.S. young and middle-aged than in most other advanced countries. HIV-AIDS cut three months from the healthy life expectancy of male American babies born in 1999, and one month from female lives;
• The U.S. is one of the leading countries for cancers relating to tobacco, especially lung cancer Tobacco use also causes chronic lung disease.
• A high coronary heart disease rate, which has dropped in recent years but remains high;
• Fairly high levels of violence, especially of homicides, when compared to other industrial countries.

See: World life expectancy charts at M White's site.

US Deaths/Mortality at the National Center for Health Statistics (HCHS) at the CDC.

Cancer Deaths (US) (2001)

Accidents
See Accident Page

Prevention

a. Environmental influences

• the major causes of death can be related to chemical, social, and emotional stress
• the crowding, noise, odor, and grime of cities is thought to be depressing
• the lack of stable social structure (ie, loss of values or norms) is also thought to be disruptive to peoples mental equilibrium
• rapid change in the social and physical milieu is also stressful
• something as simple as the biannual daylight savings time shift has been shown to significantly increase accidents and mortality

• some have attributed the high rates of cardiovascular disease to a lack of physiological outlets for fight-or-flight stress responses
• certainly there are chemical insults in the environment (including self-inflicted chemical insults such as poor diet, cigarettes and other drugs) that contribute to heart disease and cancer
• did anyone hear about the recent report that TSP is responsible for higher death rates in air polluted areas?