Life expectancy in the United States is embarrassingly low

[Icarus27k]

And it's mostly young people dying that is the cause. The U.S. is better than its peer countries in "higher rates of cancer screening and survival, better control of blood pressure and cholesterol levels, lower stroke mortality, lower rates of current smoking, and higher average household income," but it's not enough to make up for the risk of death while young being higher in the U.S. 

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.

 

"Two years difference in life expectancy probably comes from the fact that firearms are so available in the United States," Crimmins says. "There's the opioid epidemic, which is clearly ours – that was our drug companies and other countries didn't have that because those drugs were more controlled. Some of the difference comes from the fact that we are more likely to drive more miles. We have more cars," and ultimately, more fatal crashes.

 

 

Edited March 27, 2023 by Icarus27k

[Raptorpat]

My immediate reaction was "we solved infant mortality a couple generations ago, so we've replaced it with school shootings."

[André Toulon]

Are our rates better in cholesterol, cancer and the ilk simply because we have more of it? 

I've seen how we keep stats.

[SwimOdin]

Down with abortions, let them die in schools.

[Insipid]

"Everybody has a pet thing they worry about and say, 'it's oral health' or 'it's suicides' – everyone has something that they're legitimately interested in and want to see more attention to," says John Haaga, who was the director of the Division of Behavioral and Social Research at the National Institute on Aging at NIH, before he retired. "The great value of an exercise like this one was to step back and say, 'OK, all of these things are going on, but which of them best account for these long-term population level trends that we're seeing?' 

 

Anyway, the line at the top of the chart is Japan. I wonder what the main difference is concerning health and longevity. 🙃

[SwimOdin]

9 minutes ago, Insipid said:

"Everybody has a pet thing they worry about and say, 'it's oral health' or 'it's suicides' – everyone has something that they're legitimately interested in and want to see more attention to," says John Haaga, who was the director of the Division of Behavioral and Social Research at the National Institute on Aging at NIH, before he retired. "The great value of an exercise like this one was to step back and say, 'OK, all of these things are going on, but which of them best account for these long-term population level trends that we're seeing?' 

 

Anyway, the line at the top of the chart is Japan. I wonder what the main difference is concerning health and longevity. 🙃

Psh, they don’t even have a second amendment MUH FREEEDUM

[Master-Debater131]

The decline in average life span almost perfectly mirrors the rise in drug overdose deaths in the US.

https://nida.nih.gov/research-topics/trends-statistics/overdose-death-rates

There has been a dramatic spike in overdose deaths in the US starting right before Covid, and then really increasing during the pandemic. Throw in the slow-burn of excess Covid deaths and that all adds up to an overall decline in lifespan. That can be avoided by being a relatively healthy person and not doing hard drugs. But thats not America. We are fat as fuck and love our drugs.