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Rural Americas more likely to die from five leading causes

A new report from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention says rural Americans are more likely to die from five leading causes of death than urban Americas.

The study says people who live in rural areas were more likely to die from heart disease, cancer, unintentional injuries, chronic lower respiratory disease and stroke, and the percentage of deaths that were preventable were higher than in urban areas.

Unintentional injury deaths were almost 50 percent higher in rural areas, which the study says is related to a greater risk of car crashes, opioid overdoses and access to treatment.

The CDC says rural residents tend to be older and sicker than urban residents, and have higher rates of smoking, high blood pressure and obesity.