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What are the leading causes of death in the United States?

Of the 2,268,000 deaths in 1994, the leading cause of death was heart disease. Below are listed the four major causes of death in the United States.

Rank	Cause of Death	Number	Percentage of Total Deaths
1.	Heart disease	734,090	32.1
2.	Cancer	536,860	23.5
3.	Stroke	154,350	6.8
4.	Chronic obstructive lung diseases and allied conditions	101,870	4.5

HIV infection accounted for 41,930 deaths and ranks eighth.

Source: Famighetti, Robert, ed. The World Almanac and Book of Facts 1996, p....

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