During 2001–2006, heart disease and cancer were the leading causes of death in the United States, accounting for nearly half of all deaths each year.
During this period, the age-adjusted death rate for heart disease declined 19.5%, from 247.8 per 100,000 standard population to 199.4, and the age-adjusted cancer death rate declined 7.8%, from 196.0 to 180.8.
Changes in the other leading causes of death were less pronounced.
SOURCE: Heron M, Hoyert DL, Xu J, Scott C, Tejada B. Deaths: preliminary data for 2006. Natl Vital Stat Rep 2008;56(16).
Available at http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr56/nvsr56_16.pdf.
[http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5724a5.htm?s_cid=mm5724a5_e
20June2008, MMWR Weekly / 57(24);666]