Americans' Live Longer

In a recent study, it has been observed that average life expectancy of Americans has touched a new high.

In a study which was started in 1955, it has been reported that the average life of Americans is on an increase and had reached about 77.9 years by 2005. At the start of this study in 1955 it was almost 69.6 years and in 1995 it was 76.7 years. After that also it has been on a rise and reached a new zenith in 2005.

This has been achieved as the death rate in the country has been controlled very well. Every year, the number of people dying of heart diseases & cancer are reducing because of better medical facilities available these days. This was observed statistically also as the number of deaths were found to have been declined to below 800 deaths per 100,000. Even the lifestyle of people has improved a lot and the screening and diagnosis of the diseases is efficient.

"This is good news," said report co-author Donna Hoyert, a health scientist at the National Center for Health Statistics. "It's even better news that it is a continuation of trends, so it is a long period of continuing improvement."

"Yet mortality for Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease continue to increase," Hoyert said, which were found to have increased by 4 to 5 % in 2004-05. "There is also better diagnosis and reporting of these diseases on death certificates," she said.

Although the experts think that these results are really good and are expected to continue in this trend, but some people have some more concerns on their minds.

"News that life expectancy is increasing is, of course, good. But the evidence we have suggests that there is more chronic disease than ever in the U.S. Diabetes and obesity are both epidemic, and of particular concern. Death from heart disease and cancer may be declining, but not the rates of these diseases," said Dr. David Katz, director of the Prevention Research Center at Yale University School of Medicine.

He also said that it also important to notice that how healthy a person is in those added years of life. Just increasing the life span won’t do any good if the person is suffering from a disease and is just surviving.

According to him the reports only tell about the life expectancy at the time of birth, but what is also very important to notice is, how good the health of the person is, in the subsequent years of his life. So, along with curing diseases, emphasis should also be laid on reducing the spread of these diseases.

United States, in spite of these increasing trends is still behind 40 odd countries in terms of life expectancy. Andorra leads with 83.5 years of average life of its citizens with countries like Japan, Macau, San Marino and Singapore following it. Women still have longer life that men with the difference being around 5.2 years.

It was also found that whites live longer than blacks. The average life of a white is 78.3 whereas a black person lives for almost 73.2 years.

Given all the statistics, achievements and concerns, these trends are encouraging. The medical facilities in US are good and have contributed a lot in achieving this. Now, efforts are to be made to reduce these infections and problems along with discovering new ways to treat these problems in a more effective manner.