Tobacco Losing Top Killer Spot

About half of all deaths in the United States can be attributed to largely preventable behaviors and exposures, with tobacco use and poor diet and physical inactivity accounting for the majority of preventable deaths, accord-ing to a recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical As-sociation.Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) conducted a comprehensive literature search of articles linking risk behaviors and death.

The researchers used mortality data that was reported to the CDC to identify the causes and number of deaths for the year 2000. The researchers found that the leading causes of death that year 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 (such as those causing influenza and pneumonia – 75,000), toxic agents (exposure to pollutants, asbestos and other hazards – 55,000), motor vehicle crashes (43,000), incidents involving firearms (29,000), sexual behaviors (20,000) and illicit use of drugs (17,000).

The Medical Society of the State of New York has been a leader in efforts to prevent or reduce smoking and supports more physically active, healthier lifestyles.