Research
Cardiovascular disease, cancer and respiratory disease kills more than 75% of those dying before the age of 75, according to research conducted by Legal & General.
The findings found that these diseases are brought on by a combination of predisposition and lifestyle choices.
Total natural deaths have fallen 11% from 639,000 in 1996 to 568,000 in 2005 and incidence of cardiovascular disease fell from 272,000 to 204,000 in the same period. This amounted to a 25% decline. Respiratory deaths have fallen from 100,000 to 79,000 while cancer fell the least - 4%, from 159,000 to 153,000 deaths.
According to the study, some 75% of all people who die prematurely in the UK die as a result of one of these three causes.
Cardiovascular disease is still the leading cause of death in the UK and, while it has declined since the 1970s, rates of incidence are on the rise due to medical developments resulting in people surviving a heart attack but then suffering multiple attacks.
