A worrisome trend continues.

Recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirms that last year the average life expectancy for Americans declined by 0.1 years to 78.6 years.  Since 2014 the U.S. has lost 0.3 years in life expectancy.

For comparison life expectancy is 84.1 years in Japan and 83.7 years in Switzerland.  These countries respectively take 1st and 2nd place in the most-recent ranking by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.  The U.S. ranks 29th.

Why the concern?  Life expectancy is widely considered an important measure of a nation’s prosperity.

Causes?  Data suggests increases in drug overdoses (synthetic opioid deaths rose 45%) and suicides (up 3.7%).  These two preventable causes were most prevalent in rural areas and are often a reflection of economic despair amongst a nation’s people.

Other causes include diseases affecting an aging population (e.g. heart disease, cancer, diabetes) and people with poor/no healthcare (e.g. influenza, pneumonia, diabetes).

Overall death rates declined for Black and Hispanic women.  They were unchanged for Hispanic men.  Death rates increased for White men and women and Black men.