Life expectancy falls in America; drugs, alcohol and suicide to blame
pharmafile | September 24, 2018 | News story | Sales and Marketing | USA, alcohol, drugs, health, opiod crisis, suicide
Life expectancy has fallen for the second year in a row for people in the United States, according to new data released by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.
The decline is being driven by drugs, alcohol and suicide, the report points out, as the number of deaths from chronic liver disease, suicide, Alzheimer’s, blood infections (septicaemia) and unintentional injuries (including drug overdoses) are all on the rise.
Significantly while overall life expectancy rose by a total of 0.8 years between 2006 and 2016, life expectancy dropped by a total of 0.3 years between 2014 and 2016. More specifically life expectancy fell 0.2 years between 2014 and 2015 and then dropped again by 0.1 years, the following year.
Overall, the number of deaths of those aged between 15 and 44 rose by around 5% each year between 2013 and 2016. However, while those over the age of 65 are expected to live longer, as the number of deaths related to cancer, strokes and heart disease fell; deaths rates for adults under the age of 65 increased, with suicides, drug overdoses and chronic liver disease particularly to blame.
The opioid crisis has been especially significant in fuelling the decline as 63,000 people died of drug overdoses in 2016 alone. Meanwhile liver disease replaced HIV as the sixth leading killer of adults between the ages of 25 and 44 in the same year.
Suicide is also on the rise in every demographic having risen to become the second biggest killer of those aged between 15 and 24. Meanwhile suicide became the third-leading cause of death among people aged 25-44.
Louis Goss
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