Americans' life expectancy at birth has fallen for the third straight year, fueled by a rising death rate from overdoses and suicides.
Between 1959 and 2014, the life expectancy of Americans was on the rise. The country had nevertheless suffered two years of decline in 1962 and 1963, when the flu had overcome many people. The year 1993 was also catastrophic, particularly following an epidemic of the AIDS virus. Nevertheless, these three years remained "exceptional". Since 2014, on the other hand, life expectancy on the other side of the Atlantic has tended to decline regularly . An alarming finding for such a rich country.
“Americans have many misconceptions about their superiority in many facets of their lives , explains Steven Woolf, lead author of this study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association . We may think we have the best medical care in the world and our longest life expectancy…but we don't .
For this work, the researchers examined more than 50 years of information on life expectancy in the United States extracted from the American WONDER database. The results then showed that between the 1960s and the 1990s, it tended to increase. Then it began to stagnate until 2014. Since then, it has continued to decline . Between 1959 and 2013, life expectancy increased from 69.9 years to 78.9 years. It is now fallen to 78.6 years old .
The researchers also isolated 35 different causes of death, but a few seem to stand out more than others. These include mainly opiate overdoses, obesity, liver disease and suicide.
For example, the suicide rate has increased by almost 40% among 25 to 64 year olds between 1959 and 2013. Alcohol-related liver disease, on the other hand, has increased by nearly 160% among 25 to 34 year olds. Obesity-related death rates have also increased by 114% in this same age group. It also emerged that men died more prematurely than women.
These causes of death, for researchers, reveal a significant sense of hopelessness among Americans. The Midwestern states, which seem the most affected, have for example been hard hit by job losses in steelworks and coal mines. This could in particular explain why many people in financial difficulty have turned to alcohol or drugs.
We note, however, that not all American states are affected by this incredible downward trend. Life expectancy between 2010 and 2017 notably increased among residents of Hawaii, California, and parts of the Pacific Northwest.
Related articles:
