(TheRedAlertNews.com) – Heart disease and cancer hold the top spots among the causes of death among American adults, while COVID-19 is supposedly not far behind, according to new data released by a federal public health agency.
Fox News reports that the latest list of death causes for adults in the United States released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that the top ten causes are responsible for over three-quarters of all non-minor deaths in 2021.
The CDC data, supplemented with research on trends, was released on Thursday by USAFacts, a nonprofit.
The 2021 list shows that heart disease, cancer, and the coronavirus caused over half of the 3.46 million adult mortalities in the nation in 2021 – even though death rates for the first two causes have been decreasing for the past two decades.
According to the new data, heart disease killed over 695,547 in the said year, while cancer was responsible for the deaths of roughly 605,000 adult Americans.
Nearly 417,000 perished of COVID-19, more than twice as many as the deaths caused in accidents – almost 225,000.
Stroke was the fifth most fatal factor for adults in the United States in 2021, with nearly 163,000, while “chronic lower respiratory diseases” claimed a little over 142,000 lives.
Alzheimer’s disease occupies the seventh spot on the grim list, with nearly 120,000 fatalities, while diabetes is eighth, claiming over 103,000 lives.
The CDC list also includes chronic liver disease and cirrhosis as the nation’s ninth most frequent cause of adult deaths, with nearly 57,000 fatalities, and kidney disease, on the tenth spot, with over 53,000 death cases.
The report reveals that the latest CDC report shows decreases for six of the top ten causes between 1999 and 2021.
Thus, the number of deaths caused by influenza and pneumonia declined over the said period by over 55%, heart disease – by almost 35%, and strokes – by exactly one-third.
At the same time, some of the death causes have seen increases, as deaths brought about by Alzheimer’s disease increased by 88%, and deaths resulting from unintentional injury increased by 83%.
Overall, 2021 saw a 2.4% increase in adult deaths in the United States – up from 3.38 million in 2020.
“Other causes of death may also factor into the rising death toll of 2021, namely those related to the COVID-19 pandemic — suicide and violent crimes, both of which have been on the rise in recent years,” noted Florida longevity expert Dr. Brett Osborn.
