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 The
life expectancy of Americans has reached an all-time high of 77.6
years as a result of a drop in death rates from major diseases such
as heart disease and cancer. Although women are still outliving
men, the gap has grown narrower. A report from the National Center
for Health Statistics confirmed that the life expectancy of women
today is 5.3 years more than men, compared to 1979 when the difference
was 7.8 years.
Experts are concerned that the increasing life expectancy rates
could heavily impact the already shaky social security funds. Other
factors that could throw social security into a financial downward
spiral include:
- Increase in active life expectancy
- Aging Baby Boomers
- Growth in overall population
- Lower birth rates
Life Expectancy in America Pales in Comparison
to Other Countries
Although the increase of American life expectancy to 77.6 years
reflects a positive statistic, America still lags behind several
other countries.
According to statistics from the World Health Organization, Japan
holds the longest life expectancy at 81.9 years followed by Monaco,
81.2, San Marino and Switzerland, 80.6, Australia, 80.4, Andorra,
80.3, and Iceland, 80.1.
These numbers don’t include a myriad of other countries that
are topping the United States including Austria, Belgium, Canada,
Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta,
Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, Spain and the United
Kingdom.
Two Death Rates Drop--Four Death Rates
Rise in America
- The death rate from heart disease decreased from 240.8 per 100,000
in 2002 to 232.1 in 2003
- The cancer death rate declined from 193.5 to 189.3 per 100,000
- Alzheimer's disease is up 5.9 percent
- Hypertension is up 5.7 percent
- Parkinson's disease is up 3.4 percent
- Kidney disease is up 2.1 percent
USA
Today March 1, 2005
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