Leading Causes of cdc or stroke Death in Women over 44
Heart Disease, Stroke and Lung Cancers: 3 Leading Causes of Death in Women over 44
Data complied by the CDC showed that Heart Disease was the leading cause of death for women in the United States. Following the trend for data collected in 2006, roughly one in four women (27.2%) died of various diseases of the heart last year. Heart disease is the leading cause of death for women in all parts of the world and all ethic groups, except Asian/Pacific Islander women, where the leading cause of death for that group is cancers of all types.
It is important to note that among both women and men below the age of 44, Unintentional Injury was the leading cause of death among all ethnic groups and both sexes. This includes death by auto accident, work related injuries, sports injuries, and any other unintentional injury experiences. Once the age of 44 is reached, the leading cause of death for men or women is heart disease.
The next leading cause of death for women in the United States after diseases of the heart is Cerebrovascular Diseases, or Strokes. Roughly 7% of deaths were stroke related for the most current data. As many heart diseases are found as a result of strokes, the two causes combined show over 35% of all deaths for women last year were heart or stroke related. It is approximately the percentage for either women or men.
Lung and Bronchus Cancers are listed as the 3rd leading cause of death or women in the United States. When all cancer deaths are combined: lung cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer, colorectal cancers, skin cancers, liver cancers, etc., or in lists where the form of cancer is not identified, cancer is the second leading cause of death among men and women over the age of 44. Roughly 22% of all deaths, men and women, are cancer related.
When cancer deaths are determined by type of cancer, Lung Cancer remains the 3rd leading cause of death for women, Breast Cancer appears in the 7th position, and Colorectal Cancer ends the list in position #10 as leading causes of death for women.
Adding the death percentage for all heart diseases and stroke to the percentage of deaths from all forms of cancer, nearly 60% the deaths in 2009 for men and women over the age of 44 in the United States could be attributed to just three things: heart diseases, strokes or various cancers.
The 4th leading cause of death for women in the United States is Chronic Lower Respiratory Disease, accounting for 5.5% of deaths among women over 44 years of age. It is important to take note that outside the United States, chronic lower respiratory disease ranked sixth or seventh among other racial and ethnic groups.
Other leading causes of death for women in the United States are: #5 - Alzheimer’s Disease, #6 – Accidents and Unintentional Injury, #7- Breast Cancer, #8 - Diabetes Mellitus, #9 – Influenza and Pneumonia and after everything else, the 10th leading cause of death for women in the United States is Colorectal Cancers.
When deaths are broken down by ethnic groups and race, one of the most noticeable changes is Diabetes Mellitus deaths fall. It is the 8th leading cause of death in the United States among white non-Hispanic women, but it is the 4th leading cause of death among all other groups. In other words, white non-Hispanic women have a lower rate of death from diabetes than all other ethic and racial groups.
The 9th leading cause of death among Hispanic females was death during the perinatal period. The perinatal period is medically defined as the time period from the 28th week of pregnancy to approximately 4 weeks after giving birth. For non-Hispanic women the 9th leading cause of death was Influenza and Pneumonia.
The 10th leading cause of death for women in the United States was Colorectal Cancers but for the Asian/Pacific Islander group, the 10th leading cause of death was hypertension.
Top 10 Causes of Death for Women in the United States (c.2005)
1 Diseases of Heart 329,238
2 Cerebrovascular Diseases (Strokes) 86,993
3 Lung and Bronchus Cancer 69,078
4 Chronic Lower Respiratory Disease 68,497
5 Alzheimer's Disease 51,039
6 Accidents (Unintentional Injury) 41,426
7 Breast Cancer 41,116
8 Diabetes Mellitus 38,581
9 Influenza and Pneumonia 34,949
10 Colorectal Cancer 26,224
Article Resources
Mortality data provided by CDC's National Center for Health Statistics. Data Released February 2008.
http://www.cdc.gov/Women/lcod.htm
http://mchb.hrsa.gov/whusa08/hstat/hi/pages/208lcd.html
http://www.cdc.gov/cancer/breast/statistics/
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr57/nvsr57_14.pdf
