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- irreversible cessation of all biologic function - also see mortality, impending death Etiology: Causes of death in the United States 2019-2023 (in descending order) [25] heart disease cancer accidents/trauma#...,, COVID-19* (2020-2021) chronic lower respiratory diseases stroke Alzheimer's disease diabetes mellitus kidney disease influenza & pneumonia suicide# --------------------------- chronic liver disease, cirrhosis * Covid-19 not making top 10 in 2023 Causes of death in the United States 2015-2020 [20] Causes of death in the United States 2020 (in descending order) [20] heart disease cancer COVID-19* accidents/trauma# stroke chronic lower respiratory diseases Alzheimer's disease diabetes mellitus influenza & pneumonia kidney disease suicide# * Deaths attributed to COVID-19 accounted for 72.4% of US excess deaths [21] # Firearm deaths now (2022) leading cause of death from trauma is U.S. exceeding deaths from motor vehicle accidents [18] falls account for > 1/2 of deaths from injury in the elderly (>= 65 years) [9] Causes of death in the United States 2014 [13] Cause % heart disease 23% cancer 22% (183 per 100,000 in 2017) [17] chronic lung disease 5.6% accidents 5.2% stroke 5.1% Alzheimer's disease 3.6% (36.9 per 100,000 in 2017) [17] diabetes mellitus 2.9% influenza & pneumonia* 2.1% (16.6 per 100,000 in 2017) [17] renal failure 1.8% suicide 1.6% * Stroke, Alzheimer's disease, diabetes mellitus, influenza & pneumonia & renal failure included in 2014 cause of death seem not to be included above from ref [14]. * The splash of ref [14] is that medical errors are the 3rd most common cause of death in the U.S. * Considerable discrepancies as to the frequency of medical error as a cause of death in discussed in ref [14] * world-wide, bacterial infections are the 2nd most common cause of death [23] age-adjusted mortality rate in U.S. rose between 2014 & 2015 - causes of death with significant increases include: - Alzheimer disease - chronic lower respiratory diseases (COPD) - drug overdose - homicide - hypertension - liver disease - Parkinson's disease - septicemia - stroke - suicide [15] Causes of death in the United States 2013 [14] Etiology % heart disease 24% cancer 23% medical errors 9.7% chronic lung disease 5.7% suicide 1.6% motor vehicles 1.3% firearms 1.3% Causes of death in the United States 2008 [6] Etiology % heart disease 20.3% cancer 18.6% Lung cancer 5.2% Leukemia//lymphoma 1.8% Colorectal carcinoma 1.8% Breast cancer 1.4% (both sexes combined) pancreatic cancer 0.6% prostate cancer 0.5% chronic lung disease 4.6% stroke 4.4% accidents 4.0% motor vehicle accidents 1.3% other accidents 2.7% Alzheimer's disease 2.7% diabetes mellitus 2.3% influenza & pneumonia 1.8% renal failure 1.6% sepsis 1.2% suicide 1.2% liver disease 1.0% hypertension 0.8% Parkinson's disease 0.7% homicide 0.6% all other causes 15.4% Etiology Age 65 & over % - heart disease 27.6% cancer 21.8% chronic lung disease 6.7% stroke 6.3% Alzheimer's disease 4.5% diabetes mellitus 2.8% influenza & pneumonia 2.7% renal failure 2.2% accidents 2.2% sepsis 1.5% all other causes 21.6% In 2002, cancer surpassed heart disease as major cause of death for people under age 85. In 2002, 476,009 people died of cancer, 450,637 died of heart disease. In 2000-2009, suicide surpassed motor vehicle accidents as the leading cause of injury-related mortality. [8] (except elderly, see below) [9] Until age 45, the most common cause of death is accidents [6] Until age 25, the most common cause of accident-related death is due to motor vehicle accidents [6] Age 45-64 cancer is the most common cause of death, followed by heart disease & accidents [6] In the elderly, 47% of injury-related deaths are due to falls, 12% due to motor-vehicle accidents, 7% due to suffocation & 13% due to suicide. [10] Epidemiology: 1) 64% of deaths < 65 years of age occur in males 2) male/female ratio of deaths > 65 years of age ~= 1/1. 3) 70% of deaths occur in individuals > 65 years of age 4) cold weather is associated with more deaths than hot weather [12] - 8% of deaths attributable to cold or hot weather - >7% associated with cold weather [11] Clinical manifestations: 1) cessation of respirations 2) cessation of heartbeat 3) patient is motionless 4) patient cannot be aroused 5) reflexes are absent (including corneal reflex) 6) mouth may fall open as the jaw relaxes 7) pupils are fixed & dilated 8) eyelids may be partially open with eyes in a fixed stare 9) any waste matter in the bowel or rectum will be released as the sphincter muscles relax

Related

death anxiety; fear of death death note end of life impending death mortality

Specific

brain death cell death death of spouse/partner necrosis stillborn sudden unexpected death

General

pathologic process physiologic process

References

  1. Medical Knowledge Self Assessment Program (MKSAP) 11, American College of Physicians, Philadelphia 1998
  2. Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine, 14th ed. Fauci et al (eds), McGraw-Hill Inc. NY, 1998, pg 222
  3. Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine, 13th ed. Isselbacher et al (eds), McGraw-Hill Inc. NY, 1994, pg 1106
  4. Netscape sites American Cancer Society http://www.cancer.org/statistics
  5. End of Life https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/end-of-life
  6. Minino AM et al Deaths: Preliminary Data for 2008 National Vital Statistics Reports 59(2) 2010 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr59/nvsr59_02.pdf
  7. Murphy SL et al Deaths: Preliminary Data for 2010 National Vital Statistics Reports 60(4) 2012 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr60/nvsr60_04.pdf
  8. Rockett IRH et al Leading Causes of Unintentional and Intentional Injury Mortality: United States: 2000-2009 Am J Public Health Sept 20, 2012 PMID: 22994256 http://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/pdf/10.2105/AJPH.2012.300960
  9. Geriatric Review Syllabus, 8th edition (GRS8) Durso SC and Sullivan GN (eds) American Geriatrics Society, 2013 - Geriatric Review Syllabus, 11th edition (GRS11) Harper GM, Lyons WL, Potter JF (eds) American Geriatrics Society, 2022
  10. Kramarow E et al Deaths From Unintentional Injury Among Adults Aged 65 and Over: United States, 2000-2013. NCHS Data Brief. Number 199, May 2015 http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db199.htm
  11. Boscoe FP, Pradhan E The Most Distinctive Causes of Death by State, 2001-2010 Prev Chronic Dis 2015;12:140395 PMID: 25974145 http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2015/14_0395.htm
  12. Gasparrini A et al Mortality risk attributable to high and low ambient temperature: a multicountry observational study. Lancet. May 20, 2015 PMID: 26003380 http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2814%2962114-0/abstract - Dear K, Wang Z Climate and health: mortality attributable to heat and cold. Lancet. May 20, 2015 PMID: 26003381 http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2815%2960897-2/abstract
  13. Xu J et a; Mortality in the United States, 2012 NCHS Data Brief. Number 168, October 2014 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db168.htm - Murphy SL et al Mortality in the United States, 2014 NCHS Data Brief. Number 229, December 2015 http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db229.pdf - Data Brief 229: Mortality in the United States, 2014 http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db229_table.pdf#1
  14. Frellick M Medical Error Is Third Leading Cause of Death in US. Medscape Medical News. May 3, 2016 http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/862832 - Makary MA, Daniel M Medical error-the third leading cause of death in the US. BMJ 2016;353:i2139 PMID: 27143499 http://www.bmj.com/content/353/bmj.i2139
  15. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics Vital Statistics Rapid Release. June 1, 2016 http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/vsrr.htm
  16. Kochanek KD, Xu J, Murphy SL et al Deaths: Preliminary Data for 2009 National Vital Statistics Report. 59(4): March 16, 2011 http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr59/nvsr59_04.pdf
  17. Ahmad FB, Bastian B. Quarterly provisional estimates for selected indicators of mortality, 2016-Quarter 2, 2017. National Center for Health Statistics. National Vital Statistics System, Vital Statistics Rapid Release Program. 2017. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/mortality-dashboard.htm
  18. The US Burden of Disease Collaborators The State of US Health, 1990-2016. Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Among US States. JAMA. 2018;319(14):1444-1472 PMID: 29634829 https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2678018 - Koh HK, Parekh AK. Toward a United States of Health: Implications of Understanding the US Burden of Disease. JAMA. 2018;319(14):1438-1440 PMID: 29634816 https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2678000
  19. Truog RD Defining Death-Making Sense of the Case of Jahi McMath. JAMA. Published online April 9, 2018 PMID: 29630700 https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2678247
  20. Ahmad FB, Anderson RN The Leading Causes of Death in the US for 2020. JAMA. Published online March 31, 2021. PMID: 33787821 https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2778234 - Ahmad FB, Cisewski JA, Minino A, Anderson RN. Provisional Mortality Data - United States, 2020. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. ePub: 31 March 2021 PMID: 33830988 https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7014e1.htm
  21. Woolf SH, Chapman DA, Sabo RT et al Excess Deaths From COVID-19 and Other Causes in the US, March 1, 2020, to January 2, 2021. JAMA. Published online April 2, 2021 PMID: 33797550 https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2778361 - Garber AM Learning From Excess Pandemic Deaths. JAMA. Published online April 2, 2021 PMID: 33797557 https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2778362
  22. AMA Morning Rounds. Feb 24, 2022 American Medical Association - Klein J, Prabhakaran K, Latifi R, Rhee P. Firearms: the leading cause of years of potential life lost Trauma Surgery & Acute Care Open 2022. 7(1):e000766 PMID: 35141422 PMCID: PMC8819782 Free PMC article https://tsaco.bmj.com/content/7/1/e000766
  23. GBD 2019 Antimicrobial Resistance Collaborators Global mortality associated with 33 bacterial pathogens in 2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019. Lancet. 2022. Nov 21. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(22)02185-7/fulltext
  24. Ramakrishnan V Why We Die: The New Science of Aging and the Quest for Immortality Hardcover - March 19 2024 https://www.amazon.com/Why-We-Die-Science-Immortality/dp/0063113279
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  26. National Center for Health Statistics http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/deaths.htm