Heart Disease deaths on the rise in the U.S.

The two leading causes of death in for adults in America are cancer and heart disease

Researchers say while health officials are optimistic that cancer deaths are dropping, the flip side is that death rates for heart disease are on the rise.

Some good news and some bad news from researchers at the Center For Disease Control and Prevention.

The number of adults in the U.S. dying from cancer dropped almost 20 percent from 1999 to 2017.

However, the number of adults dying from heart disease increased.

Originally it looked as if heart disease fatalities were on the decline, with death rates dropping 22 percent between 1999 and 2011.

But by 2017, that rate increased by four-percent overall.

The results were compiled by examining death certificates for adults aged 45 to 64 who died between 1999 and 2017.

The study, published in the National Vital Statistics Report, found that white women had the greatest rise in the rate of deadly heart disease, but black women had the overall highest rate.

Death rates for Hispanic women declined.

According to the CDC, cancer and heart disease are the leading causes of death for middle-aged Americans, accounting for around half of the deaths in the group.

Rising obesity rates and unhealthy lifestyle choices are consider the main reason for the increase in these diseases.