By I. Edwards HealthDay Reporter<\/b>
\n<\/b><\/p>\n
THURSDAY, Sept. 11, 2025 (HealthDay News) \u2014 For the first time since the pandemic began, COVID-19<\/a> dropped out of the nation\u2019s top 10 causes of death in 2024, new U.S. government data<\/a> shows.<\/p>\n Overall U.S. death rates also fell to their lowest level since 2020, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.<\/p>\n Heart disease<\/a> and cancer<\/a> remained the leading causes of death. In all, 683,037 deaths due to heart disease and 619,812 due to cancer were reported last year \u2014 both up slightly from 2023.<\/p>\n Unintentional injuries ranked third, while suicide moved into the top 10 for the first time, displacing COVID.<\/p>\n \u201cHeart disease is still number one, and it\u2019s definitely not going in the right direction,” Dr. Eric Topol<\/a>, founder and director of Scripps Research in San Diego, told STAT News.<\/em><\/p>\n Further, \u201cthere are many thousands of people dying of COVID still,” he added.<\/p>\n After unintentional injuries, the list continued with stroke, chronic lower respiratory diseases, Alzheimer\u2019s<\/a> disease, diabetes<\/a>, kidney disease, chronic liver disease and cirrhosis<\/a>.<\/p>\n Topol said these leading causes are largely preventable through lifestyle changes such as exercise and diet.<\/p>\n \u201cThese numbers are not encouraging,\u201d he told STAT News<\/em>. \u201cWe\u2019re talking about diseases that are eminently preventable, just with lifestyle factors, but we have 75% of the population that doesn\u2019t do even the minimum requirement of exercise.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite the overall drop in death rates, some disparities remain:<\/p>\n Black Americans continue to have the highest death rates among racial and ethnic groups.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Men face significantly higher death rates than women: 844.8 deaths per 100,000 compared with 613.5 per 100,000 for women.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n Topol added that U.S. health outcomes still lag behind many other countries, pointing to gaps in chronic disease prevention, life expectancy and maternal and infant death rates.<\/p>\n He expressed dismay about cuts in federal funding for health-related studies.<\/p>\n \u201cThe reduction of research support isn\u2019t going to help matters,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Where is the prevention?\u201d<\/p>\n More information<\/strong><\/p>\n The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on the leading causes of death in the U.S<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n