U.S. Only Industrialized Country With Life Expectancy Declining

[Bronco_Beerslug]

Seems we have now fallen to 41st in the world and the U.S. healthcare system ranks 37th on a list of 191 systems compiled by the World Health Organization. How can this be for a the country who outspends every one else in healthcare?

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U.S. Life Expectancy May Have Peaked
ncy May Have Peaked

Christopher Wanjek
LiveScience's Bad Medicine Columnist
LiveScience.com Tue Apr 22, 9:50 AM ET


Life expectancy rates rose for most of Americans over the last four decades by about six years, from an average of about age 71 to age 77. Yet a sizeable portion of the population, mostly in rural regions, saw those modest gains level off and even reverse starting in the 1980s. This is in contrast to all other industrialized nations.

Nearly 20 percent of American women, in fact, experienced either stagnation or a decline in longevity, what researchers at Harvard School of Public Health and the University of Washington call a "reversal of fortunes."

A team led by Harvard's Majid Ezzati published these findings today in the online medical journal PLoS Medicine. The analysis - the first to look at mortality trends county by county - is based on mortality data from the National Center for Health Statistics and population data from the U.S. Census Bureau between 1959 and 2001.

Living large, and less

The findings are troublesome, the researchers said, because life expectancy, along with infant mortality, is a major indicator of the health of a nation. A decline in life expectancy, as is seen during turmoil such as war and famine, is a sign that health and social systems are failing.

This failing trend could easily spread to the rest of the nation, meaning that for the first time in the history of this country, parents will have lived longer than their children.

Hardest hit are regions in the Deep South, along the Mississippi River, in Appalachia and also the southern part of the Midwest reaching into Texas. The culprits - largely preventable with better diet and access to medical services - are diabetes, cancers and heart disease caused by smoking, high blood pressure and obesity.

Two Americas

The U.S. life expectancy already is nothing to brag about. The United States is the wealthiest country on earth, yet the life expectancy of its people is only about 78 years, which places us 41st on the 2008 CIA World Factbook list, behind Bosnia but still edging out Albania.

What the new analysis reveals is the reality of two Americas, one on par with most of Europe and parts of Asia, and another no different than a third world nation. For example, previous research has shown that the U.S. state of Georgia has a life expectancy and infant mortality rate similar to the impoverished Eastern European nation of Georgia. In Harlem, African American men are less likely to reach the age of 65 than men in Bangladesh, according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The United States might still be the destination for complicated surgery and cutting-edge procedures, but for the most part it fails its poorest citizens, with about 36 million of them (12 percent of the population, according to the CIA World Factbook) living below the poverty line. As a result, the U.S. healthcare system ranks 37th on a list of 191 systems compiled by the World Health Organization.

Science can't increase life expectancy forever; good ol' inequality will trump it every time. The new longevity analysis should be a wake-up call for voters that this nation isn't No. 1. Maybe it doesn't need to be No. 1, but, given our vast resources, it would be nice to strive for something better than 41st place.

[W*GS]

Originally Posted by Bronco_Beerslug

Seems we have now fallen to 41st in the world and the U.S. healthcare system ranks 37th on a list of 191 systems compiled by the World Health Organization. How can this be for a the country who outspends every one else in healthcare?

The answer is in the article, despite its bias:

Hardest hit are regions in the Deep South, along the Mississippi River, in Appalachia and also the southern part of the Midwest reaching into Texas. The culprits - largely preventable with better diet and access to medical services - are diabetes, cancers and heart disease caused by smoking, high blood pressure and obesity.

Lifestyle choices, in short.

[Bronco_Beerslug]

Originally Posted by W*GS

The answer is in the article, despite its bias:
Lifestyle choices, in short.

You forgot a couple other points...

but for the most part it fails its poorest citizens, with about 36 million of them (12 percent of the population, according to the CIA World Factbook) living below the poverty line

What the new analysis reveals is the reality of two Americas, one on par with most of Europe and parts of Asia, and another no different than a third world nation.

A decline in life expectancy, as is seen during turmoil such as war and famine, is a sign that health and social systems are failing.

largely preventable with better diet and access to medical services

[baja]

Good find Slug. I hope this thread gets a good going over. This is reflective of what the basic problem is in the US.

Why are many third world countries enjoying a better state of health? The main reason is they eat food that is much less processed it's that simple.

Good luck with that GMO Thedave.

[TheDave]

Originally Posted by baja

Good find Slug. I hope this thread gets a good going over. This is reflective of what the basic problem is in the US.

Why are many third world countries enjoying a better state of health? The main reason is they eat food that is much less processed it's that simple.

Good luck with that GMO Thedave.

Poly unsaturated / saturated fats and an ungodly craving for processed sugar and cornsyrup are the the culprits in the america diet not GMO's

[Spider]

I now weigh 220 pounds I feel good at this weight

[baja]

Originally Posted by TheDave

Poly unsaturated / saturated fats and an ungodly craving for processed sugar and cornsyrup are the the culprits in the america diet not GMO's

Over processed denatured food offering marginal nutrition and empty calories along with the substances you mentioned are the basis for the decline in health that Slug's linked article shows but make no mistake GMO's will take us over the edge. How arrogant it is to think we can make better something we do not even understand. There are elements and relationships in natural food that we do not begin to understand. There is a synergy of creation that can't be made better only tampered with. The meek shall inherit the earth.

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

Originally Posted by Bronco_Beerslug

You forgot a couple other points...

Ha ha ha!

His feeble attempts to refute anything of substance in the article you posted are hilarious.

Particularly amusing is his accusation of "bias."

"Bias" in favor of whom? People who feel we could do a better job of providing healthcare or keeping Americans healthy?

[W*GS]

Who doesn't know that smoking is bad?

Who doesn't know that being fat is bad?

Who doesn't know that junk food is bad?

Is the point of our health care system to fix up people who have abused their health for decades when it finally catches up to them?

[Bronco Bob]

Originally Posted by baja

Over processed denatured food offering marginal nutrition and empty calories along with the substances you mentioned are the basis for the decline in health that Slug's linked article shows but make no mistake GMO's will take us over the edge. How arrogant it is to think we can make better something we do not even understand. There are elements and relationships in natural food that we do not begin to understand. There is a synergy of creation that can't be made better only tampered with. The meek shall inherit the earth.

We've been modifying food since we stopped being hunter/gatherers and
became farmers. Foods like corn couldn't even exist in the wild. It's
a completely man made crop, has been for hundreds of years. Carrots
too are a man made product, bred from a plant called queen anne's lace.
Chickens don't exits in the wild, another man made food. This far left
lunacy about GMO is just more anti-corporate nuttiness. The reason
people are fat and unhealthy is they don't want to get off their asses
and move. If you check, one of the reasons people in other countries
are healthier is they get more exercise. They do a lot more walking,
for instance.

[baja]

Take a look at degenerative disease increase in the last fifty years in America it is off the chart. Take a look at the nutritional content of the food post WWII as compared to pre WWII. You are talking a very short period of time when you point out the alteration of food in your post Bob and if you look a cancer, heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer's, ADD and other degenerative diseases over that time you will find a steady increase with the increases spiking in recent years. "You are what you eat" as well as "You are what you think". Just look at people eating living natural food compared to people subsisting on the standard American diet (SAD). Walk into a regular grocery store and look at the shoppers then go to a really good organic food store and compare the people there to the people you observed at the other standard market. The difference will shock you.

[Bronco Jamus]

Originally Posted by W*GS

The answer is in the article, despite its bias:



Lifestyle choices, in short.

And that's what it boils down to, lifestyle choices.

[Spider]

People today are lazy , not their fault , I was lazy compared ot the generation before me , I used to buck 90 pound hail bails for 12 hour days during the summer + my normal chores , Dig post holes with a shovel , as well as irrigate , shovel sand out of irrigation ditches .......By the time I was 16 , I was out working men on construction sites , but in todays world a fella doesnt have to work that hard any more

[Spider]

Man did hate chopping fire wood ........

[spdirty]

I know I gotta quit chewing soon or Ill be part of this.

[Spider]

Originally Posted by spdirty

I know I gotta quit chewing soon or Ill be part of this.

I have tried to quit so many times , even tried the kid stuff like Kodiak , redwood , some of that other candy stuff , but I go right back to Copenhagen

[TheDave]

Originally Posted by baja

Over processed denatured food offering marginal nutrition and empty calories along with the substances you mentioned are the basis for the decline in health that Slug's linked article shows but make no mistake GMO's will take us over the edge. How arrogant it is to think we can make better something we do not even understand. There are elements and relationships in natural food that we do not begin to understand. There is a synergy of creation that can't be made better only tampered with. The meek shall inherit the earth.

Cut the arrogant crap... Man has been arrogant enough to make things better since he invented the wheel. Your psuedo-science based fears are rediculous... Relax. Genetically modified foods have been around since the first wind carried pollens from one field to the next. Why is it that when "nature" does it everything is OK but if man does this then we are all doomed?

Seriously Baja, you need to come up with a new hobby. The one where every time anything is discussed you tell us that we are doomed is getting real old.

[spdirty]

Originally Posted by Spider

I have tried to quit so many times , even tried the kid stuff like Kodiak , redwood , some of that other candy stuff , but I go right back to Copenhagen

Me too. Ive tried the nicorette gum, regular gum, seeds, and that beef jerky chew, but always go back to cope long cut. **** is so damn addictive. Meanwhile I see in the mirror every morning how much I need to quit as my gums are receeding more and more. Just need to go cold turkey.

Im gonna try it starting right now. Maybe set a goal of 24 hours without chew, then work to 48, and so on. Yeah, I just took the chew out of my mouth and thats what Im gonna try to do. So if I am a total a-hole to everyone here for the next 2 weeks, thats a good thing.

Spider, you try doing it with me. Starting right now, we can be total dlcks to everyone cuz we are quittin.

[TheDave]

Originally Posted by Spider

I have tried to quit so many times , even tried the kid stuff like Kodiak , redwood , some of that other candy stuff , but I go right back to Copenhagen

I knew there was a reason I liked you...

[Spider]

Originally Posted by spdirty

Me too. Ive tried the nicorette gum, regular gum, seeds, and that beef jerky chew, but always go back to cope long cut. **** is so damn addictive. Meanwhile I see in the mirror every morning how much I need to quit as my gums are receeding more and more. Just need to go cold turkey.

Im gonna try it starting right now. Maybe set a goal of 24 hours without chew, then work to 48, and so on. Yeah, I just took the chew out of my mouth and thats what Im gonna try to do. So if I am a total a-hole to everyone here for the next 2 weeks, thats a good thing.

Spider, you try doing it with me. Starting right now, we can be total dlcks to everyone cuz we are quittin.

good luck

[TheDave]

Originally Posted by spdirty

Me too. Ive tried the nicorette gum, regular gum, seeds, and that beef jerky chew, but always go back to cope long cut. **** is so damn addictive. Meanwhile I see in the mirror every morning how much I need to quit as my gums are receeding more and more. Just need to go cold turkey.

Im gonna try it starting right now. Maybe set a goal of 24 hours without chew, then work to 48, and so on. Yeah, I just took the chew out of my mouth and thats what Im gonna try to do. So if I am a total a-hole to everyone here for the next 2 weeks, thats a good thing.

Spider, you try doing it with me. Starting right now, we can be total dlcks to everyone cuz we are quittin.

Try Cope pouches... At least then you can get it out from the same spot and move it around your mouth more.

[Spider]

Originally Posted by TheDave

I knew there was a reason I liked you...

thanks

[spdirty]

Originally Posted by Spider

good luck

Oh your not gonna try it with me. Come on man. I need to know that someone is suffering from withdraw with me.

[spdirty]

Originally Posted by TheDave

Try Cope pouches... At least then you can get it out from the same spot and move it around your mouth more.

Nope. Cold turkey starting 5 minutes ago. Just threw a nearly full can of cope long cut in the trash. Its on.

[Spider]

Originally Posted by TheDave

Try Cope pouches... At least then you can get it out from the same spot and move it around your mouth more.

cope patches ?