According to data published in the October 5, 1999 issue of the Monthly Vital Statistics Report by the National Center for Health Statistics, the following is the most recent breakdown of the top ten causes of death in the U.S. and their associated risk factors for Adults 24 and older & Youth 15-24.
 

Adults 24 and older
 

Rank	Cause	1998 Deaths	Associated Risk Factors
1	Diseases of the heart	724,269	Exercise, Cholesterol, Diet Diabetes, High blood pressure Tobacco Use, Stress
2	Cancers (Including malignant neoplasms of lymphatic and hematopoietic tissues)	538,947	Diet, Breast/testicular self-examination, Mammogram, Pap smear, Prostate screening, Colorectal cancer screening, Radon exposure, Tobacco use
3	Cerebrovascular diseases	158,060	Diet, Cholesterol, Exercise, Diabetes, High blood pressure, Tobacco use, Stress
4	Chronic obstructive lung diseases and allied conditions	114,381	Exercise, Smoking
5	Pneumonia and influenza	94,828	Smoking
6	Accidents and adverse effects (including motor vehicle and other accidents)	93,207	Alcohol use, Injury control, Seat belts, Smoke detectors
7	Diabetes mellitus	64,574	Diet, Exercise, Weight
8	Suicide	29,264	Unprotected sexual activity, IV drug use
9	Kidney diseases (Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, and nephrosis)	26,295
10	Chronic liver disease and cirrhosis	24,936	Alcohol Use

 

Youth age 15-24
 

Rank	Cause	1998 Deaths
1	Accidents and adverse effects (including motor vehicle and other accidents)	12,752
2	Homicide and legal intervention	5,233
3	Suicide	4,003
4	Cancers (Including neoplasms of lymphatic and hematopoietic tissues)	1,670
5	Diseases of heart	961
6	Congenital anomalies	429
7	Chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases and allied conditions	224
8	Pneumonia and influenza	211
9	Human immunodeficiency virus infection	208
10	Cerebrovascular diseases	182

Source:
National Center for Health Statistics. Monthly Vital Statistics Report. 1999, Vol 47., No. 25,. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.