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Since at least 1993, when McGinnis and Foege published their landmark paper quantifying the risk factors that contribute to US deaths, it has been clear that the leading cause of death here is not cardiovascular disease, or cancer, or chronic pulmonary disease; it is smoking.1 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was a bit slow to come around to this view, but it confirmed and …" /> <meta name="DC.Contributor" content="Douglas Kamerow" /> <meta name="article:published_time" content="2020-08-03" /> <meta name="article:section" content="Observations" /> <meta name="citation_title" content="The leading cause of death in the US" /> <meta name="citation_abstract" lang="en" scheme="teaser" content="<p>Even in the pandemic, don’t forget tobacco</p>" /> <meta name="citation_journal_title" content="BMJ" /> <meta name="citation_publisher" content="British Medical Journal Publishing Group" /> <meta name="citation_publication_date" content="2020/08/03" /> <meta name="citation_mjid" content="bmj;370/aug03_7/m3079" /> <meta name="citation_id" content="370/aug03_7/m3079" /> <meta name="citation_public_url" content="https://www.bmj.com/content/370/bmj.m3079" /> <meta name="citation_abstract_html_url" content="https://www.bmj.com/content/370/bmj.m3079.abstract" /> <meta name="citation_full_html_url" content="https://www.bmj.com/content/370/bmj.m3079.full" /> <meta name="citation_pdf_url" content="https://www.bmj.com/content/bmj/370/bmj.m3079.full.pdf" /> <meta name="citation_issn" content="1756-1833" /> <meta name="citation_journal_abbrev" content="BMJ" /> <meta name="citation_doi" content="10.1136/bmj.m3079" /> <meta name="citation_pmid" content="32747438" /> <meta name="citation_volume" content="370" /> <meta name="citation_article_type" content="Other" /> <meta name="citation_section" content="Observations" /> <meta name="citation_author" content="Douglas Kamerow" /> <meta name="citation_reference" content="citation_journal_title=JAMA;citation_journal_abbrev=JAMA;citation_author=JM. McGinnis;citation_author=WH. Foege;citation_title=Actual Causes of Death in the United States;citation_pages=2207-2212;citation_volume=270;citation_year=1993;citation_issue=18;citation_pmid=8411605;citation_doi=10.1001/jama.1993.03510180077038" /> <meta name="citation_reference" content="citation_journal_title=JAMA;citation_journal_abbrev=JAMA;citation_author=AH. Mokdad;citation_author=JS. Marks;citation_author=DF. Stroup;citation_author=JL. Gerberding;citation_title=Actual Causes of Death in the United States, 2000;citation_pages=1238-1245;citation_volume=291;citation_year=2004;citation_issue=10;citation_pmid=15010446;citation_doi=10.1001/jama.291.10.1238" /> <meta name="citation_reference" content="Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Leading causes of death. 2020. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/leading-causes-of-death.htm." /> <meta name="citation_reference" content="Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Smoking and tobacco use: fast facts. 2020. https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/fast_facts/index.htm." /> <meta name="citation_reference" content="Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Coronavirus disease 2019: people with certain medical conditions. 2020: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/need-extra-precautions/people-with-medical-conditions.html#smoking." /> <meta name="citation_reference" content="Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. Covid-19 projections. 22 Jul 2020. https://covid19.healthdata.org/united-states-of-america." /> <meta name="citation_reference" content="citation_journal_title=N Engl J Med;citation_author=SA. 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Since at least 1993, when McGinnis and Foege published their landmark paper quantifying the risk factors that contribute to US deaths, it has been clear that the leading cause of death here is not cardiovascular disease, or cancer, or chronic pulmonary disease; it is smoking.1 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was a bit slow to come around to this view, but it confirmed and …" /> <meta name="og-title" property="og:title" content="The leading cause of death in the US" /> <meta name="og-url" property="og:url" content="https://www.bmj.com/content/370/bmj.m3079" /> <meta name="og-site-name" property="og:site_name" content="The BMJ" /> <meta name="og-description" property="og:description" content="Even in the pandemic, don’t forget tobacco Are you tired of hearing about covid-19? I am too. So, here’s a tirade about something completely different: the leading cause of death in the United States. Since at least 1993, when McGinnis and Foege published their landmark paper quantifying the risk factors that contribute to US deaths, it has been clear that the leading cause of death here is not cardiovascular disease, or cancer, or chronic pulmonary disease; it is smoking.1 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was a bit slow to come around to this view, but it confirmed and …" /> <meta name="og-type" property="og:type" content="article" /> <meta name="og:image" property="og:image" content="https://www.bmj.com/sites/default/files/highwire/bmj/387/8450.cover-source.jpg"/> <meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image"><meta name="twitter:image" property="twitter:image" content="https://www.bmj.com/sites/default/files/sites/defautl/files/attachments/bmj-article/2020/08/cigarettes_stub.jpg"><meta name="twitter:title" content="The leading cause of death in the US" /><link rel="alternate" type="text/plain" title="Full Text (Plain)" href="/content/370/bmj.m3079.full.txt" 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href="/us/news">News & Views</a></li> <li>The leading cause of...</li> <li class="active last">The leading cause of death in the US</li> </ol> <a id="main-content"></a> <div class="region region-content"> <section id="block-system-main" class="block block-system clearfix"> <div class="panel-display" > <div class="hero"> <div class="hero-wrapper"> <div class="hero-content" style="position: relative; left: 0px; top: 35.5px;"> </div>  </div>  </div>  <div class="row"> <div class="left-content col-xs-12 col-sm-8 col-md-8 col-lg-8"> <article> <div class="panel-pane pane-highwire-article-citation" > <div class="pane-content"> <div class="highwire-article-citation highwire-citation-type-highwire-article node1031960" data-node-nid="1031960" id="node-1031960--21053955674" data-pisa="bmj;370/aug03_7/m3079" data-pisa-master="bmj;bmj.m3079" data-apath="/bmj/370/bmj.m3079.atom"><cite class='highwire-cite highwire-citation-bmj-article-top'> <span class='highwire-cite-article-type'>Observations</span> <span class='bmj-series-title'>Yankee Doodling</span> <h1 class="highwire-cite-title" id="page-title">The leading cause of death in the US</h1> <span class='highwire-cite-journal'>BMJ</span> <span class='highwire-cite-published-year'>2020</span>; <span class='highwire-cite-volume-issue'>370</span> <span class='highwire-cite-doi'> doi: <a href="https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m3079">https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m3079</a></span> <span class='highwire-cite-date'>(Published 03 August 2020)</span> <span class='highwire-cite-article-as'> Cite this as: <span class="italic">BMJ</span> 2020;370:m3079 </span> </cite> </div> </div> </div> <div class="panel-separator"></div><div class="panel-pane pane-highwire-panel-tabs pane-panels-ajax-tab-tabs" > <div class="pane-content"> <ul class="tabs inline panels-ajax-tab"><li class="first"><a title="Article Tab - Article" href="/content/370/bmj.m3079" class="panels-ajax-tab-tab" 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scholar, Robert Graham Center for policy studies in primary care, professor of family medicine at Georgetown University, and associate editor, The BMJ</span></li></ol><ol class="corresp-list"><li class="corresp" id="corresp-1"><span class="em-link"><span class="em-addr">dkamerow{at}aafp.org</span></span></li></ol></div><div class="teaser"><p id="p-1">Even in the pandemic, don’t forget tobacco</p></div><div id="F1" class="fig pos-float type-theme odd"><div class="fig-placeholder"></div></div><p id="p-2">Are you tired of hearing about covid-19? I am too. So, here’s a tirade about something completely different: the leading cause of death in the United States.</p><p id="p-3">Since at least 1993, when McGinnis and Foege published their landmark paper quantifying the risk factors that contribute to US deaths, it has been clear that the leading cause of death here is not cardiovascular disease, or cancer, or chronic pulmonary disease; it is smoking.<span class="xref-bibr">1</span> The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was a bit slow to come around to this view, but it confirmed and … </p><span class="highwire-journal-article-marker-end"></span></div><span id="related-urls"></span></div><a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/370/bmj.m3079.full" class="hw-link hw-link-article-full-text">View Full Text</a></div> </div> </div> <div class="panel-separator"></div><div class="panel-pane pane-panels-mini pane-bmj-article-purchase-subscribe" > <div class="pane-content"> <div class="panel-display row bootstrap-twocol-6-6" 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class="highwire-citation-info"> <div class="highwire-article-citation highwire-citation-type-highwire-article node1031960--3" data-node-nid="1031960" id="node-1031960--4716027088" data-pisa="bmj;370/aug03_7/m3079" data-pisa-master="bmj;bmj.m3079" data-apath="/bmj/370/bmj.m3079.atom"><div id="jnl_bmj_custom_authors" style="display: none;"><span data-delta="0"><span class="nlm-given-names">Douglas</span> <span class="nlm-surname">Kamerow</span> <span class="nlm-role">senior scholar, Robert Graham Center for policy studies in primary care, professor of family medicine at Georgetown University, and associate editor, The BMJ</span></span></div> <div class="highwire-cite highwire-cite-highwire-article highwire-citation-bmj-article-citation-export clearfix" > <span class="highwire-cite-authors" ><!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"> <html><body><span data-delta="0"><span class="nlm-surname">Kamerow</span> <span class="nlm-given-names">D</span></span>. </body></html> </span> <span class="highwire-cite-title article-title">The leading cause of death in the US</span> <span class="highwire-cite-metadata" ><span class="highwire-cite-metadata-journal highwire-cite-metadata">BMJ </span><span class="highwire-cite-metadata-date highwire-cite-metadata">2020; </span><span class="highwire-cite-metadata-volume highwire-cite-metadata">370 </span><span class="highwire-cite-metadata-volume highwire-cite-metadata">:m3079 </span></span> <span class="article-doi" >doi:10.1136/bmj.m3079</span> </div> </div> </div> <div class="highwire-citation-formats"> <div class="highwire-citation-formats-links"> <span class="Z3988" title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.spage&rft.epage&rft.atitle=The%20leading%20cause%20of%20death%20in%20the%20US&rft.volume=370&rft.issue&rft.date=2020-08-03%2015%3A36%3A28&rft.stitle&rft.jtitle=BMJ&rft.au=Kamerow%2C+Douglas"></span><h3></h3><ul 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