Top causes of death in Nevada are heart disease, cancer

RENO — Cancer and heart disease are more likely to kill Nevadans than any other causes, according to new data on 2016 deaths from the Nevada Division of Public and Behavioral Health.

Other top causes of death in the state that year included diseases that affect the elderly or stem from risky behavior such as poor diets and alcohol and drug abuse, the Reno Gazette-Journal reported Wednesday.

“All of those choices that people make may end up predicating what their end is,” said Dr. Laura Knight, Washoe County’s chief medical examiner and coroner.

The number of suicides in Nevada increased by 13 percent from 2015 to 2016, according to data from the public health department.

The county in northern Nevada saw a 16 percent increase in suicides from 2015 to 2016, Knight said.

She expects the rising trend to continue into 2017.

Chronic liver disease and cirrhosis was the 10th leading cause of death for Nevadans, killing 397 residents in 2016.

It’s followed by influenza and pneumonia, which killed a total of 551 Nevadans in 2016.

Alzheimer’s disease, suicide and diabetes mellitus were ranked at six, seven and eight respectively.

Non-transport accidents that did not happen in a vehicle was the fifth leading cause of death in Nevada. These types of accidents resulted in 953 deaths in 2016.

Strokes followed closely, causing 1,058 deaths in the state that year.

Chronic lower respiratory diseases killed 1,752 Nevadans.

Cancer killed more than 5,000 and heart diseases killed more than 6,000.