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Americans Living Longer


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#1 Lazarus Long

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Posted 14 September 2002 - 04:31 PM


http://www.cnn.com/2...y.ap/index.html

Report: Americans living longer
September 13, 2002 Posted: 9:50 AM EDT (1350 GMT)

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Death is on the decline for babies, adults and older people alike, with AIDS, homicide, cancer and heart disease all claiming fewer lives, the government reports in its annual look at American health.

Life expectancy reached a record high of 76.9 years, with the gaps between blacks and whites as well as men and women narrowing over time.

The report, released Thursday, looks at health trends spanning the second half of the 20th century and finds improvement on almost every measure.

"When you take the long view, you see clearly how far we've come," said Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson.

With better medical care and a drop in smoking rates, death rates for heart disease have been cut in more than half. And they've fallen even more dramatically for stroke and other cerebrovascular disease.

Death rates from injuries, particularly motor vehicle crashes, have also fallen since about 1970, with safer cars on the road and more people wearing seat belts.

It's not all good news. Death rates for diabetes, along with the number of cases, are climbing, largely the result of a sharp increase in obesity.

All of these factors contribute to life expectancy, and people are certainly living longer.

The average baby born in 1900 could expect to live 47.3 years and that gauge has been climbing ever since. By 1950, life expectancy had risen to 68.2, and it reached 76.9 in 2000.

Throughout the century, women and whites have lived longer, but those gaps are closing, the report shows.

In 1950, whites lived 8.3 years longer than blacks. By 2000, that gap had shrunk to 5.6 years.

For gender, the gap was at its peak in 1970, when women lived 7.6 years longer than men. By 2000, the gap was 5.4 years.

The report found drops in death at every stage of life and for many diseases. Specifically:


Infant mortality: The portion of babies dying before their first birthday hit a record low in 2000, reaching 6.9 per 1,000 live births. That rate has fallen 75 percent since 1950.


Young deaths: Mortality among children and young adults, between 1 and 24 years old, declined by more than half since 1950. Researchers credited drops in death rates in accidents, cancer, heart disease and infectious diseases. Homicide and suicide rates generally increased over the half century, though they have been falling since the mid-1990s.


Adults: Death among adults ages 25 to 44 declined by more than 40 percent between 1950 and 1999. During the mid-1990s, HIV was the leading cause of death for this age group, but these rates have fallen significantly.


Older adults: Mortality among adults ages 45 to 64 fell by nearly 50 percent, including drops in heart disease, stroke and injury. Cancer is the leading cause of death in this group, and those death rates rose slowly through the 1980s and then began to decline.


Heart disease: Much of the improvement in life expectancy is traced to falling heart disease rates. In 1950, just over 585 people in the United States developed heart disease for every 100,000. By 1999, that had been more than cut in half, falling to just under 268 people per 100,000.


Stroke: In 1950, nearly 181 of every 100,000 people died of stroke and other cerebrovascular disease. By 1999, it was just 62 per 100,000.

Copyright 2002 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

#2 Lazarus Long

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Posted 14 September 2002 - 04:35 PM

But the good news should be tempered with this:

By Maggie Fox
Reuters

WASHINGTON (Sept 12) - Americans are living longer than ever before, but they are overweight and physically lazy and spend far more on health care than any other country in the world, the U.S. government said on Thursday.

The infant mortality rate dropped to a record low in 2000 and life expectancy hit a record high, the report by the National Center for Health Statistics at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found.

"In 2000, Americans enjoyed the longest life expectancy in U.S. history -- almost 77 years, based on preliminary figures," said the report, published on the Internet at http:/www.cdc.gov/nchs. "The life expectancy of men was 74 and for women almost 80."

The infant mortality rate -- deaths before a child's first birthday -- dropped to a record low of 6.9 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2000, down from 7.1 in 1999.

The report looked at statistics from 2000, the last year of the 20th century. Americans made marked gains in health in the second half of the century, the agency said.

"Among children and young adults 1 to 24 years of age, mortality has declined, in part because of decreases in death rates for unintentional injuries, cancer and heart disease," the report reads.

Adults aged 25 to 64 are less likely to die in accidents, of heart disease and stroke, thus lowering the overall risk of death for that age group. "Finally, among the elderly, marked decreases in death rates for heart disease and stroke have increased the average number of years Americans can expect to live after the age of 65," it said.

Many of the declines are due to better medical care and healthier lifestyles -- especially a drop in the smoking rate. Cars are safer and more women start prenatal care as soon as they learn they are pregnant.

But as Americans make gains in these areas, they are endangering their health by become overweight and by failing to exercise, the report said. This is especially worrying when it comes to children and teen-agers.

The report said 61 percent of American adults are overweight and 27 percent obese, and 13 percent of children are overweight. The cause -- overeating and a lack of exercise.

"In 2000, 39 percent of adults reported that they did not engage in physical activity during leisure time,' the report said.

A report from the Institute of Medicine last week recommended that people get at least one hour of exercise every day to stay healthy -- more if they wanted to lose weight. Obesity and a lack of exercise is strongly linked with heart disease, stroke, diabetes and several types of cancer.

The report also noted that Americans spent $1.3 trillion on health care in 2000 -- 13.2 percent of the gross domestic product. This, the center said, is "far more than any other nation."

One-third of the money was spent on hospital care, about one-fifth in fees to doctors and one-tenth on prescription drugs.

"The cost of prescription drugs increased 15 percent a year from 1995-2000 -- faster than any other category of spending," it said.

And these costs will probably rise as the nation ages.

"As the 'baby boom' generation turns 65, beginning in 2011, the size of the elderly population will grow substantially, the report said. "By 2050 it is projected that one in five Americans will be elderly."

09/12/02 16:42 ET

Copyright 2002 Reuters Limited.

#3 Lazarus Long

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Posted 14 September 2002 - 04:39 PM

And these CDC Health statistics:
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/

Center for Desease Control Statistics on General Health

This site is a valuable tool for investegators into health research issues for the gathering of uselful and at time trivial health related data.

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