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Did You Know?
Life Expectancy Continues to Grow
New data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), in "Health United States, 2006," finds that life expectancy in the United States was the highest ever in 2004, continuing the trend shown in recent years. In 2004, life expectancy at birth in the United States reached a new high of 77.8 years, up from 77.5 in 2003.
- Life expectancy at birth increased for both men (to 75.2 from 74.8) and women (to 80.4 from 80.1). Similarly, it increased for African Americans men (to 69.5 from 69.0) and for African American women (to 76.3 from 76.1).
- Life expectancy at age 65 increased for men to 17.1 additional years (total of 82.1 years) from 16.8 (81.3 years) and for women to 20.0 (85.0 years) from 19.8 (84.8 years). Life expectancy at age 65 also increased for Black men to 15.2 (total of 80.1 years) from 14.9 (79.9) and for Black women to 18.6 (83.6 years) from 18.5 (83.5 years).
- Overall, death rates for the total U.S. population dropped in 2004. The national age-adjusted death rate decreased 3.8% from 832.7 deaths per 100,000 population in 2003 to 801.0 deaths per 100,000 in 2004. There were declines in mortality among all reported racial, ethnic, and gender groups. The largest decrease was among Hispanic males (6.1%) and Hispanic females (6.3%)
- The nation’s leading causes of death for persons 65 and over were: heart disease (31.2 of all deaths of persons 65+ in 2003), cancer (21.6%), stroke (7.7%), chronic lower respiratory disease (6.0%), Alzheimer's Disease (3.5%), Influenza and Pneumonia (3.2%), and Diabetes (3.0%).
On the not-so-good side:
- Analyses of recent mortality rates rates suggest that while mortality for most of the leading causes of death among older persons is declining, there are several areas where it may be increasing. Recent years have seen increased mortality from essential hypertension and hypertensive renal disease as well as unintentional falls.
Sources:
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Dept. of Health & Human Services
