In North America, these are the leading causes of DALY (defined in Diet and having a long and disability-free life):
| Leading causes of disability-adjusted life years (DALY) 2010 | North America | Global |
| Heart disease (ischaemic) | 1 | 1 |
| COPD chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder | 2 | 9 |
| Low back pain | 3 | 6 |
| Trachea, bronchus, lung cancers | 4 | 22 |
| Major depressive disorder | 5 | 11 |
| Other musculoskeletal disorders | 6 | 24 |
| Cerebrovascular disease | 7 | 3 |
| Diabetes | 8 | 14 |
| Neck pain | 9 | 21 |
| Road injury | 10 | 10 |
| Drug use disorders | 11 | 31 |
| Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias | 12 | 49 |
| Anxiety disorders | 13 | 26 |
| Self-harm | 14 | 18 |
| Falls | 15 | 19 |
| Cirrhosis of the liver | 16 | 23 |
| Colon and rectum cancers | 17 | 44 |
| Chronic kidney diseases | 18 | 29 |
| Alcohol use disorders | 19 | 35 |
| Breast cancer | 20 | 47 |
| Lower respiratory infections | 21 | 2 |
| Asthma | 22 | 28 |
| Schizophrenia | 23 | 43 |
| Osteoarthritis | 24 | 38 |
| Interpersonal violence | 25 | 27 |
| Preterm Birth Complications | 26 | 8 |
| Other cardiovascular and circulatory diseases | 27 | 37 |
| Benign prostatic hyperplasia | 28 | 62 |
| Migraine | 29 | 30 |
| Congenital anomalies | 30 | 17 |
| Pancreatic cancer | 31 | 64 |
| Cardiomyopathy and myocarditis | 32 | 50 |
| Hypertensive heart disease | 33 | 42 |
| Prostate cancer | 34 | 88 |
| Other hearing loss | 36 | 41 |
| HIV/AIDS | 37 | 5 |
| Poisonings | 42 | 58 |
| Sickle cell disorders | 43 | 71 |
| Diarrhoeal disease | 48 | 34 |
| Liver cancer | 49 | 33 |
| Epilepsy | 52 | 36 |
| Neonatal encephalopathy | 54 | 12 |
| Oesophageal cancer | 55 | 57 |
| Stomach cancer | 56 | 39 |
| Drowning | 64 | 32 |
| Adverse effects of medical treatment | 69 | 82 |
| Fire, heat, hot substances | 73 | 34 |
| Exposure to mechanical forces | 75 | 48 |
| Meningitis | 91 | 25 |
| Sepsis etc in newborn baby | 99 | 16 |
| Maternal disorders | 109 | 40 |
| Protein-energy malnutrition | 116 | 20 |
| Iron-deficiency Anaemia | 117 | 15 |
| Exposure to forces of nature | 123 | 45 |
| Tuberculosis | 124 | 13 |
| Syphilis | 146 | 55 |
| Typhoid and paratyphoid fevers | 149 | 52 |
| Measles | 153 | 56 |
| Malaria | 155 | 7 |
