NPR: Life expectancy continues to decline in the U.S. as it rebounds in other countries

[oldmom4896]

'Live free and die?' The sad state of U.S. life expectancy

[rockymtnhigh2]

Interesting- also the other article in the article: Social and Economic Policies Can Help Reverse Americans’ Declining Health

[deb922]

Thanks for gifting this.

I can’t say anything without violating TOS

[vpa2019]

“A big part of the difference between life and death in the U.S. and its peer countries is people dying or being killed before age 50. The “Shorter Lives” report specifically points to factors like teen pregnancy, drug overdoses, HIV, fatal car crashes, injuries, and violence.”

Interesting that none of these relate to healthcare availability or poor eating and exercise habits. They seem more cultural.

[sushiritto]

From the article:

The panel looked at American life and death in terms of the public health and medical care system, individual behaviors like diet and tobacco use, social factors like poverty and inequality, the physical environment, and public policies and values. “In every one of those five buckets, we found problems that distinguish the United States from other countries.”

Yes, Americans eat more calories and lack universal access to health care. But there’s also higher child poverty, racial segregation, social isolation, and more. Even the way cities are designed makes access to good food more difficult.

[sushiritto]

This article was published on CNN yesterday:

Even though the cause of the rise of colorectal cancer in younger adults is “still not very well understood,” Dr. Subhankar Chakraborty argues that dietary and lifestyle factors could be playing larger roles than some would think.

“We know that smoking, alcohol, lack of physical activity, being overweight or obese, increased consumption of red meat – so basically, dietary factors and environmental and lifestyle factors – are likely playing a big role,” said Chakraborty, a gastroenterologist with The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center.

“There are also some other factors, such as the growing incidence of inflammatory bowel disease, that may also be playing a role, and I think the biggest factors is most likely the diet, the lifestyle and the environmental factors,” he said.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/24/health/colorectal-cancer-young-age-mystery/index.html

[ucbalumnus]

@vpa2019

Interesting that none of these relate to healthcare availability or poor eating and exercise habits. They seem more cultural.

If it is cultural, would improving US life expectancy mean adopting more of the cultural values of HI, WA, MN, CA, MA, NH, OR, VT, UT, ID, CT and less of the cultural values of MS, WV, LA, AL, KY, AR, TN, OK, NM, SC, according to state life expectancies listed at Life Expectancy at Birth by State ?

[vpa2019]

I don’t know because the leading causes of death listed for all 50 states are either heart disease or cancer, which arguably goes to diet, exercise and genetics.

[Parentof2014grad]

As the article mentioned, average life expectancy takes a harder hit when someone dies very young that when someone dies a couple of years younger than needed from heart disease or stroke. Children dying brings the average down faster, so infant mortality, accidents, gun deaths, and the other things listed in the article that kill very young people may be lower in the cause of death list, but punch above their weight there in terms of reducing life expectancy.

[fiftyfifty1]

@Parentof2014grad

infant mortality

Yep. Infant mortality is a huge one, and the biggest contributor to infant mortality is prematurity. Because this is the case, it is important to remember when comparing countries that not all countries count neonatal deaths the same. In the US, even extremely premature births are counted as live births, and thus when these infants die, they are counted as deaths. In many countries, however, these are counted as “stillbirths”, even though the fetus is born alive, and thus do not get factored into their nation’s life expectancy.