Falling Life Expectancies - Women

[Derechos]

snip

Overall, the United States is falling further behind other industrialized nations, many of which have also made greater strides in cutting child mortality and reducing preventable deaths.

In 737 U.S. counties out of more than 3,000, life expectancies for women declined between 1997 and 2007. For life expectancy to decline in a developed nation is rare. Setbacks on this scale have not been seen in the U.S. since the Spanish influenza epidemic of 1918, according to demographers.

"There are just lots of places where things are getting worse," said Dr. Christopher Murray, director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, which conducted the research. "We're not keeping up."

The backsliding for women began before 1997, but researchers found it had accelerated in the last decade. Only 227 counties saw women's life expectancy decline between 1987 and 1997, according to the study.

The grim trend is fueled largely by smoking, high blood pressure and obesity, according to Murray and other population health experts.

See link for map of Women's life expectancy by county http://www.latimes.com/health/la-na-womens-health-a1.eps-20110615,0,1281950.graphic

See link for map Comparing life expectancy for men and women http://www.latimes.com/health/la-na-womens-health-inside.eps-20110615,0,59817.graphic


http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-na-womens-health-20110615,0,1751262,full.story

[lumberjack_jeff]

1. since 1987

life expectancy

The life expectancy for US men in 1987 was 72.4 years. For women, it was 78.4, an 8% difference.
The life expectancy for US men in 2007 was 76.7 years. For women, it was 80.8, a 5% difference.

It's reasonable to surmise that it's difficult to raise life expectancy past 80.

The biggest challenge on county-by-county metrics is mobility; the fact that the already-elderly move to retirement communities. The people who die in the counties they moved *from* then tend to be younger on average.

The improvement among men is interesting. Improvement in workplace safety and improved research into prostate cancer are two plausible explanations.

We need universal health care become comparable to civilized countries for women or men.

[sweetapogee]

2. from the op...

"The grim trend is fueled largely by smoking, high blood pressure and obesity, according to Murray and other population health experts."

Quit smoking, eat right, exercise. All good advice.

[lumberjack_jeff]

3. Maybe, but we have shorter lifespans than people who drink, smoke and eat worse than us. nt

[Turbineguy]

4. Reaganomics.

Conservatism. And it will get worse before it gets better.

If more Americans die younger, the GOP wins!