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Heart disease and cancer have been the two leading causes of death among persons 65 years of. age and older for the past 2 decades, accounting for nearly a million deaths (995,187) in. 1997. Over one-third (35 percent) of all deaths are due to heart disease, including heart. attacks and chronic ischemic heart disease.
If the higher estimates are used, the deaths due to iatrogenic causes would range from 230,000 to 284,000. In any case, 225,000 deaths per year constitutes the third leading cause of death in the United States, after deaths from heart disease and cancer. Even if these figures are overestimated, there is a wide margin between these numbers of deaths and the next leading cause of death (cerebrovascular disease).