Nat's essays on cancer, abortion rights and medicine

Share this post

Why American life expectancy is decreasing

natpernick.substack.com

Why American life expectancy is decreasing

Nat Pernick
Mar 12, 2023
1
1
Share

For the second year in a row, life expectancy in the U.S. declined—this time to the lowest level since 1996.

That marks a disturbing turn from the historical trend. In 1900, U.S. life expectancy was 47 years, and by 2019 it hit 79. But in 2020, life expectancy fell to 77 and dropped further to 76.4 in 2021, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

This alarming trend is clearly not an anomaly and is primarily due to heart disease, cancer, COVID-19 and the ongoing drug-overdose epidemic. Heart disease remains the leading cause of death, followed by cancer and COVID-19, which accounted for about 60% of the decline in life expectancy. Meanwhile, overdose deaths—which account for more than one-third of all accidental deaths in the United States—have risen five-fold over the past two decades.

This is from an article published by the American Medical Association which discusses causes of the decline. Click here for the rest of the article.

Share

If you like these essays, please share them with others.

Index to Nat’s Substack articles

Follow me at Substack or LinkedIn or through my Curing Cancer Newsletter

Email me at Nat@PathologyOutlines.com - unfortunately, I cannot provide medical advice.

I also publish Notes at https://substack.com/notes, and would love for you to join me there! Subscribers will automatically see my notes. Feel free to like, reply, or share them around!

1
1
Share
1 Comment
Dr Madhu Dewan
Mar 12

Very important information.

Thanks.

Expand full comment
Reply
Top
New
Community

No posts

Ready for more?

© 2023 Nat Pernick
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start WritingGet the app
Substack is the home for great writing