Top Ten Diseases Leading to Death in the United States

The top 10 diseases (leading to death) in the United States per the center for disease control are listed below (most recent CDC info is from end of year 2006):

1) Heart disease: Heart disease was the number one cause of death from disease and accounted for 631,636 deaths. Ways to prevent heart disease per the Mayo clinic are

A) don’t smoke. Smoking is deemed as one of the most significant factors in developing heart disease. Mayo adds smokeless tobacco and low-nicotine products as risky as well as exposure to second hand smoke.

B) Exercise. Adopting an exercise program that includes 30-60 minutes of cardio can be helpful in reducing the risk of heart disease. Mayo is careful to point out the fact that ANY exercise is better than none at all. So if you are unable to get 30-60 minutes in daily then do what you can. Things like Gardening, taking the stairs vs elevator and fun things like walking the dog can help to reduce risk.

C) Obviously, a health diet also helps to reduce the risk of heart disease.

D) Maintaining a health weight.

E) Regular health screenings.

2) Cancer: Cancer was the second leading cause of death by disease with a total of 559,888 deaths. A few things that you can do to help reduce risk are as follows:

A) Don’t smoke,

B) Eat a variety of healthy foods including plant based foods.

C) Stay active and ultimately maintain a healthy weight.

D) Protect yourself from the sun. This is a difficult one for many who love to tan. Actually, exposure to the sun is directly associated with and the most common cause of skin cancer.

3) Stroke (cerebrovascular diseases): Accounted for 137,119. Ways to avoid a stroke are as follows:

A) control high blood pressure. Test blood pressure regularly as it is known as the “silent killer”.

B) lower you cholesterol and fat intake.

C) Don’t smoke

D) Maintain a healthy weight

E) Exrcise regulary

F) Manage your stress.

4) Chronic lower respiratory diseases: Accounted for 124,583 deaths in 2006.

5) Accidents (unintentional injuries): Accounted for 121,599 deaths in 2006. Although this is not a disease, I found it interesting to see where accidents rank in regard to deaths.

6) Diabetes: Accounted for 72,449 deaths. Ways to control or avoid diabetes are as follows:

A) Controllling your weight.

B) Maintain an exercise program.

C) High blood pressure has also been linked with diabetes. When High blood pressure is paired with obesity it has been associated with resistance to insulin.

7) Alzheimer’s disease: Accounted for 72,432 deaths.

8) Influenza and Pneumonia: Accounted for 56,326 deaths. Prevention includes:

A) annual flu shots.

B) washing your hands

C) eat right and sleep well. Eating poorly and lack of sleep can lower your immune system which opens the door to sickness.

D) Exercise (are you noticing a pattern?)

9) Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, and nephrosis: Accounted for 45,344 deaths. Prevention includes: A) not using alcohol or drugs and B) closely following doctors recommendations in regard to managing chronicconditions that increase risk of kidney failure.

10) Septicemia: Accounted for 34,234 deaths. I must admit that I had no idea of what Septicmia was. So I am sure that there are others who don’t. The definition is a systemic disease caused by the multiplication of microorganisms in the blood. Over simplified, it is blood poisoning.