Top causes of death suggest need to better prevent, manage chronic conditions
August 22, 2024—Many deaths in the U.S. from the most common causes could be delayed or prevented with lifestyle changes and improved primary care delivery, experts say.
Heart disease and cancer remain the leading causes of death, followed by unintentional injuries, stroke, chronic lower respiratory disease, Alzheimer disease, diabetes, kidney disease, chronic liver disease and cirrhosis, COVID-19, suicide, and influenza and pneumonia, according to an August 8 report from the National Center for Health Statistics.
Asaf Bitton, executive director of Ariadne Labs and associate professor of health care policy, was among the experts who agreed in news coverage of the report that the U.S health system needs to improve management of chronic conditions.
“We know how to deliver better cardiology, outpatient care, and primary care. And we know how to integrate behavioral health into outpatient care. It requires investment, focus, and discipline on the part of a health system to deliver what it ostensibly promises,” he said in an August 8 STAT News article.
Without improvements to health care delivery, including systems supporting patients in making healthy lifestyle changes, Bitton told STAT the U.S. can expect “nasty chronic conditions [to] take their horrible toll, in an inequitable way. And we’re going to basically leave a lot of preventable mortality on the table.”
Bitton further discussed the importance of healthy lifestyle changes for longevity in an August 8 Yahoo! Life article. “If we can help a person … not smoke, exercise, not drink too much alcohol, control their weight and blood pressure, get some cancer screenings on a regular basis—we’re well on our way to increasing life expectancy by, like, a decade,” he said. “Those are the big things that will determine whether you’ll be able to be around for your grandkids or a big life event. None of those things are easy to do, but that’s the stuff that matters most if what you’re after is living a longer and functional life.”
Read the STAT article: As Covid deaths drop, heart disease and cancer remain leading causes of death
Read the Yahoo! Life article: CDC reveals leading causes of death for the past 5 years. Here are 5 key takeaways.
Photo: iStock / Jacob Wackerhausen
