Dying of natural causes means that a persons death occurred due to an internal factor that caused the body to shut down, such as a disease or the aging process. It means that there was no external reason for the death, such as a traumatic physical injury. When "natural causes" shows up on a death certificate, it usually means that the person wasnt diagnosed with any one health condition, like cancer or heart disease. The most common specific causes of natural deaths in the United States are heart disease and cancer. Medical doctors classify deaths into five different "manners" of death: natural, accident, suicide, homicide, or unknown. The specific cause of death plus the circumstances surrounding the death influence the designation.