Health Care Notebook

Data: U.S. deaths

in '19 2.8 million

More than 2.8 million people died in the U.S. in 2019, according to final mortality data from the National Center for Health Statistics released in December.

New data shows a decline in the age-adjusted death rate for 2019, falling from 723.6 deaths per 100,000 in 2018 to 715.2 per 100,000 in 2019. As a result, overall U.S. life expectancy increased slightly, to 78.8 years.

Heart disease and cancer were the biggest killers, though death rates from both conditions declined slightly between 2018 and 2019.

Kidney disease -- a prevalent health problem in Arkansas patients -- rose in the rankings as a leading cause of death, climbing to the eighth-most common cause of death nationally for 2019, a report said.

Overall, about 51,565 people died from kidney disease that year. That was closely followed by influenza and pneumonia, which caused 49,783 deaths that year, the center's researchers wrote.

The National Center for Health Statistics has not yet released state-specific deaths, life expectancy or cause-of-death data for 2019. (Researchers spend time processing and analyzing death certificates, so delayed information is typical.)

As of 2015, only four states had lower life expectancies than Arkansas, according to federal data. They were Oklahoma, West Virginia, Alabama and Kentucky.

Arkansans' life expectancy at birth was an average of 76 years that year.

20 online health

classes scheduled

Baptist Health will host more than 20 free online health and wellness classes this month, the system announced in a news release.

The sessions broadcast through Google Meet include discussions of topics such as diabetes, breastfeeding, chair yoga for people with mobility issues, hypertension and meal planning.

They aim to address common subjects of New Year's resolutions related to health, the release said. Hourlong courses are at various times throughout the day.

A schedule and registration information is on the system's website: www.baptist-health.com/community-outreach.

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