Americans Living Longer, Not Necessarily Healthier

 

  There's positive news to report in the area of life expectancy for Americans.  The good news is that we're living longer.  Today the average life expectancy in the U.S. stands at 78 years.  That's an increase of three years since 1990. 
  What's troubling is that although our lives are being extended, many older Americans are not spending their golden years in good health.
Wall Street Journal
  Americans are living longer than they did two decades ago, a new study shows, but they are losing ground in key measures of health status to counterparts in other developed nations around the globe.
The findings, from the most comprehensive analysis of the health of the U.S. population in more than 15 years, show progress in reducing death rates, adjusted for age, across a variety of diseases. But death rates from illnesses associated with obesity, such as diabetes and kidney disease, as well as neurological conditions like Alzheimer's disease, are on the rise.
Meanwhile, the number of years of living with chronic disability, an indicator of quality of life, rose for the average American in the past 20 years, partly reflecting increased longevity.
Despite gains in longevity, Americans are living the extra years "not necessarily in good health," said the researchers, led by Christopher Murray, director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington in Seattle.
The study was published Wednesday by JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association. Dr. Murray also presented the results, along with separate reports on physical activity and obesity in counties across the U.S., at a White House event hosted by first lady Michelle Obama as part of her campaign against childhood obesity.
Dr. Murray said the U.S. has also made important headway against such problems as strokes; certain cancers, including colon and breast cancers; and HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. "It's important to recognize that there are some areas where we do well," he said.

  Michael Roizen, chief wellness officer at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, said much of the problem could be addressed by better diet, smaller food portions, increased physical activity, quitting smoking and better management of stress. "They are things we totally have control over," he said."It's a matter of us getting serious about this."

  The analysis was based on data for 291 diseases and 67 risk factors for disease, as well as a variety of government-sponsored health surveys. It included data from 187 countries, making it one of the most ambitious efforts undertaken to assess the disease burden not only in the U.S. but around the world.
  In the U.S., life expectancy rose three years to 78.2 years in 2010 from 75.2 in 1990, researchers found. But the nation's ranking among OECD countries fell to 27th from 20th 20 years earlier.

Moreover, people were in good health, or without short- or long-term disabilities, for just 68.1 of those years on average, the report found. The gap of 10.1 years between total life span and a healthy life span rose from 9.4 years in 1990, and the U.S. ranking for a healthy life span fell to 26th from 14th two decades ago.

  Despite progress on cardiovascular disease and some cancers, the lead causes of premature death in the U.S. remained heart disease, lung cancer and strokes. Leading contributors to disability were lower-back pain and other disorders of muscles, nerves and joints, as well as depression and anxiety.
Researchers also found that poor dietary habits have overtaken smoking as the most important risk factor associated with years of life lost to disability and to premature death.
  Findings from the county studies presented at the White House show a substantial increase in physical activity, including in Kentucky, a state that traditionally has trailed in healthy living habits. But over 20 years, he said, not one county in the U.S. reduced the burden of obesity among its residents.