Personal Behaviors and how long you live…

Actual Causes of Death in the United States, 2000
Ali H. Mokdad, PhD et al  JAMA. 2004;291:1238-1245.

Context  Modifiable behavioral risk factors are leading causes of mortality in the United States. Quantifying these will provide insight into the effects of recent trends and the implications of missed prevention opportunities.
Main Outcome Measures  Actual causes of death.
Results  The leading causes of death in 2000 were tobacco (435 000 deaths; 18.1% of total US deaths), poor diet and physical inactivity (400 000 deaths; 16.6%), and alcohol consumption (85 000 deaths; 3.5%). Other actual causes of death were microbial agents (75 000), toxic agents (55 000), motor vehicle crashes (43 000), incidents involving firearms (29 000), sexual behaviors (20 000), and illicit use of drugs (17 000).

Conclusions  These analyses show that smoking remains the leading cause of mortality. However, poor diet and physical inactivity may soon overtake tobacco as the leading cause of death.

Comment: Sad to know that we are our own worst enemies.  HeartVentures wants to help you live a longer and healthier life.  GLE