America

Life Expectancy In US Expected to Rise

Life expectancy in the US improved by 0.1 in 2018, from 78.6 to 78.7 years, and although it doesn’t seem like much – it’s a step towards improvement rather than decline.

Factors

Many factors affect the overall life expectancy, but the ones who make the most impact have been deaths due to unintentional injuries, including overdoses, and illnesses like cancer and heart disease.

Deaths related to heart disease and cancer have been continuing to decrease, falling by 0.8% and 2.2% respectively, which accounts for roughly 30% of the increase in life expectancy, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) said.

Another low was observed with deaths caused by drug overdoses declining by 2.8%, as well as this being the first decline in over 20 years.

Despite the declines, however, some drugs are still out and killing, and their numbers are rising, such as synthetic opioids – whose body count rose by 10%, and might be gradually increasing even now, as such drugs have been on the rise since 1999, and drastically increased cases of overdose deaths since 2013.

Another troubling trend is fatalities due to cocaine and the fact they have tripled since 2012.
Despite that, US health secretary Alex Azar called the news “a real victory,” as it marks a step towards a rising life expectancy, rather than a declining one, although the US still remains at the bottom of the list for overall life expectancy, which is 80 years in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Reactionary Times News Desk

All breaking news stories that matter to America. The News Desk is covered by the sharpest eyes in news media, as they decipher fact from fiction.

Previous/Next Posts

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Back to top button