In public health, a big killer is a disease or other major cause of loss of human life. Examples include:
- Cancer: 23 % of deaths
- Circulatory diseases: 36 %.
- Diabetes : 1/3 of heart attack people suffer diabetes.
- Infectious diseases : AIDS and tuberculosis
- Mental illness : 30 % of people in the community suffers one. Prevalent are Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease
- Traffic accidents
Ten Leading Causes of Death in the United States in the year 2000:
- Heart disease: 710,760
- Cancer: 553,091
- Stroke: 167661
- Chronic lower respiratory disease: 122,009
- Accidents: 97,900
- Diabetes: 69,301
- Pneumonia/Influenza: 65,313
- Alzheimer's disease: 49,558
- Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, and nephrosis: 37,251
- Septicemia: 31,224