In 2004, there were 1,215,947 female deaths in the United States. Of these deaths, nearly half were attributable to heart disease and malignant neoplasms (cancer), responsible for 330,513 and 267,058 deaths, respectively. The next two leading causes of death were cerebrovascular diseases (stroke), which accounted for 7.5 percent of deaths, followed by chronic lower respiratory disease, which accounted for 5.2 percent.

Heart disease was the leading cause of death for women in almost every racial and ethnic group; the exception was Asian/Pacific Islander females, for whom the leading cause of death was cancer. One of the most noticeable differences in leading causes of death by race and ethnicity is that chronic lower respiratory disease was the fourth leading cause of death among non-Hispanic White females while it was the seventh leading cause of death among other racial and ethnic groups. Similarly, diabetes mellitus was the eighth leading cause of death among non-Hispanic White females, while it was the fourth among other racial and ethnic groups. Among Hispanic females, death in the perinatal period was the ninth leading cause of death, and hypertension was the tenth leading cause among Asian/Pacific Islander females. Also noteworthy is that Native American/Alaska Native females experienced a higher proportion of deaths due to unintentional injury (8.5 percent) and liver disease (4.2 percent) than females of other racial and ethnic groups.

> TABLE: Ten Leading Causes of Death Among Females (All Ages), by Race/Ethnicity, 2004