Doctor and patient smiling

On April 10, Healio reported that ischemic heart disease remains the number one cause of death in the U.S., according to findings by the U.S. Burden of Disease published in JAMA.

High blood pressure and body mass index, poor diet, high-fasting plasma glucose and alcohol and drug use each accounted for over 5 percent of risk-attributable disability-adjusted life years in 2016, according to the findings.

Other findings include:

  1. Ischemic heart disease remained the leading cause of death and premature mortality from 1990 to 2016, even as age-standardized mortality dropped by 50.7% and age-standardized years of life lost dropped by 50.4 percent.
  2. Endocrine, metabolic, blood and immune disorder deaths increased by 89.1 percent and years of life lost increased by 60.3 percent.
  3. Opioid use disorders jumped from the 11th to the 7th leading cause of disability-adjusted life years, indicative of a 74.5 percent (95 percent uncertainty interval, 42.8 percent – 93.9 percent) change.
  4. Breast cancer rates of standardized mortality decreased 32.6 percent and in age-standardized years of life lost decreased 36 percent.
  5. The overall death rate declined from 745.2 (95 percent uncertainty interval, 740.6-749.8) to 578 (95 percent uncertainty interval 569.4-587.1) per 100,000 persons.

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