What killed Americans in 1776? The answer is dramatically different from today

The leading causes of death have changed dramatically since America's founding 250 years ago, highlighting how far medicine has come.

Diseases that once devastated communities have largely given way to chronic conditions, data shows, reflecting centuries of breakthroughs in public health, prevention and treatment.

"The amount of changes that have happened over the past 250 years are immeasurable when it comes to life expectancy and disease," Kenneth J. Perry, M.D., an emergency physician in Charleston...