It appears that things are not getting better for the citizens of the US when it comes to life expectancy…..
In 1918, the double whammy of World War I and the worldwide flu pandemic drove down American life expectancy for a third year in a row. A century later, another triple-year decline has been recorded—and this time, suicide and drug overdoses are major causes. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s annual report, US life expectancy dropped to 78 years and 7 months in 2017, down around a month from the year before, the AP reports. Men could expect to live 76.1 years, and women 81.1. Public health experts called the statistics alarming, noting that early deaths among middle-aged people did the most to bring life expectancy down. After 22 years of steady rises, life expectancy dropped in 2015 and again in 2016, though it will need to drop a lot more to reach the level of 1918, when life expectancy was 39.
“These sobering statistics are a wake-up call that we are losing too many Americans, too early and too often, to conditions that are preventable,” CDC Director Robert Redfield said in a statement. Another CDC report found that the number of drug overdose deaths rose almost 6,600 in 2017 to 70,237, CNN reports. The suicide rate rose to its highest in at least 50 years, with rates much higher in rural counties than in urban ones. Another factor was a harsh flu season. Experts say they find it worrying that in the US, life expectancy is going in a different direction than in most developed nations. “Life expectancy is improving in many places in the world. It shouldn’t be declining in the United States,” Joshua Sharfstein at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health tells the Washington Post. (A recent study predicted that by 2040, there will be 63 countries with higher life expectancy than the US.)
Technology and medical leaps have done little to make the life span of an American get any longer……we can only hope that these stats get better…..but I do not feel they will….not in today’s world.
Largely a matter of diet I’d say. Junk food choices and sugar, sugar, sugar in all our processed foods.
I agree…I stick with fruits, nuts and veggies….a little cheese, honey and wine….it is the perfect diet….chuq
Let’s not forget stress. The modern life is full of stresses that didn’t used to exist, alongside greater personal aspirations, more divorces, and general disappointment with life.
Best wishes, Pete.
True that….I have learned to stifle stress….makes me live longer….chuq
I just left my doctor’s office. He gave me a stern lecture about my weight gain. No good after five in the afternoon. Cut out my pastry.
One of he causes of the power rate is overweight. When I was going up in the fifties people were a lot slimmer. Very few really overweight people. Too much sugar. Stress make people overeat and gain weight.
Humans don’t seem to improve much.
I get the lecture on bread….I love French bread…..chuq
The life expectancy of all human beings is unlimited and eternal and people had better get their acts in order and start acting like they understand that fact.
I feel you expect too much from our fellow humans….chuq
It is not “My” expectations that count.
Okay then I misread your comment chuq
Chuq — a little “Aside” here … Is my blog coming across to you as having “Segoe UI” as the font for the post body text?
Post body is not as readable as before…seems to be a bit faded than before….chuq
How about Now?
It is better but not as bright as before….maybe it is my old eyes is the problem…LOL chuq
alright — how about now? I am using “Merriweather” font at Bold and the blackest black there is available.
Looks great to my eyes….but I am old so maybe others will find it a bit too much….chuq
Well — I don’t know what else to do —
Looks fine to me….no need to continue….chuq