Fewer Americans are dying from heart disease and cancer, the two leading causes of death in the US.

Although these age-related death rates continued to fall in 1999 when compared to 1998 figures, there were increases in other leading causes of death, such as high blood pressure, chronic lower respiratory diseases and diabetes, according to the CDC report.

The report gives us good news and bad news,'' Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Tommy Thompson noted in a statement. ``We're encouraged that fewer Americans are dying from some of the leading causes of deaths and concerned that other causes are taking a larger toll. Many of these deaths are preventable and too many Americans are dying from preventable causes.''

The top causes of death among Americans in 1999 were

• heart disease
• cancer
• stroke
• chronic lower respiratory disease
• unintentional injuries

Based upon a methodological change in the way several diseases were classified, federal officials also expressed concern about several other conditions, such as Alzheimer's disease.

This is because a new classification system resulted in a significant shift in the ranking of Alzheimer's disease. In 1998, Alzheimer's disease ranked 12th among the leading causes of death, but jumped to 9th due to the inclusion of patients suffering from presenile dementia.''

As a result of the new classification, the 44,507 deaths attributed to Alzheimer's disease in 1999 actually surpassed the totals of other major causes of death, including motor vehicle accidents and breast cancer, the report revealed.

A full copy of the CDC report is available on the agency's Web site at

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention June 26, 2001

Dr. Mercola's Comments:

Throughout Europe most Americans are noted as being obese. This extra weight will have many of us developing diabetes that will eventually increase the cancer and heart disease rates. Additionally, losing one's brain is probably a more serious problem than dropping dead from a heart attack. That seems to be exactly the direction we are going as the incidence of Alzheimer's is increasing quite dramatically. Last, but not least, let us not forget what I believe to be the number one cause of death in America, physician ignorance of basic health principles. That is why I do this newsletter, so we ALL can work to change the current paradigm. It might be worth noting the coincidence that Alzheimer's rates are climbing and the classification is widening, just after the first drugs are approved for treatment of Alzheimer's. I forget the name right now, but I know that the Alzheimers drug is a pretty hot seller right now. Related Articles: Diabetes Epidemic -- - 70 percent Increase Among People Ages 30 to 39 Alzheimer's Disease Will Become Enormous Public Health Burden Keep Active to Avoid Alzheimer's