Chart assignment
Charts to read and discuss
Read each chart, then answer its questions. Every chart shows its source and date; open it for a table of the numbers and the data to download.
Chart 1 of 1 · Health
What do Americans aged 85 and over die of most often?
The interactive chart needs JavaScript. The numbers are on the chart's page.
In the 12 months through June 2025, heart disease was the leading cause of death for Americans aged 85 and over, at 3,759 deaths per 100,000 people that age, 2.3 times the rate for cancer (1,631). Stroke (1,064) and Alzheimer disease (1,039) came next. The numbers are provisional.
Questions to discuss
- In one sentence of your own, what does this chart show?
- Find the biggest change or difference in the chart. What might explain it?
- Who collected these numbers, and how recent are they? What else would you want to know before drawing a conclusion?
Source: CDC National Center for Health Statistics, Quarterly provisional estimates of mortality (Public domain (U.S. government work)) · Data as of Jun 30, 2025
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