Life expectancy of U.S. women slips in some regions

[n2doc]

By Noam N. Levey, Washington Bureau
June 15, 2011, 2:23 a.m.

Reporting from Washington—
Women in large swaths of the U.S. are dying younger than they were a generation ago, reversing nearly a century of progress in public health and underscoring the rising toll of smoking and record obesity.

Nationwide, life expectancy for American men and women has risen over the last two decades, and some U.S. communities still boast life expectancies as long as any in the world, according to newly released data. But over the last decade, the nation has experienced a widening gap between the most and least healthy places to live. In some parts of the United States, men and women are dying younger on average than their counterparts in nations such as Syria, Panama and Vietnam.
Overall, the United States is falling further behind other industrialized nations, many of which have also made greater strides in cutting child mortality and reducing preventable deaths.

In 737 U.S. counties out of more than 3,000, life expectancies for women declined between 1997 and 2007. For life expectancy to decline in a developed nation is rare. Setbacks on this scale have not been seen in the U.S. since the Spanish influenza epidemic of 1918, according to demographers.

"There are just lots of places where things are getting worse," said Dr. Christopher Murray, director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, which conducted the research. "We're not keeping up."

more
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-na-womens-health-20110615,0,7351576.story

[midnight]

1. The American Exchange Council has been shaping our

domestic policies, destroying our private unions, and letting speculators price gouge food, education, gas, etc.... They have created social conditions that say die quickly... And were social engineering a method for people not to keep up...

[yellerpup]

2. If everyone had equal access to health care

we wouldn't be losing ground. The damage that the fast food industry has done by serving food substitute instead of real food is just beginning to emerge.

[TBF]

4. That was my first thought - I bet it has to do with access to health care.

A friend on facebook commented recently that "it's not right for people's teeth to go bad because they can't afford the dentist".

If folks don't have insurance (or the copays are too high) they just won't go. Same with health care.

Also liked your comment about the fast food, which really applies to all the "convenience" food in grocery stores as well. Fresh fruits and vegetables are very pricey.

[yellerpup]

6. As one who had no health insurance (or medical care)

for over 20 years and who almost starved to death while waiting for my insurance to pass the pre-condition requirement before I could get help, I am disgusted by the greed of the health insurance industry. An investment in fresh fruit and vegetables coupled with an attention to nutrition is well worth it in the long run. I agree completely about 'convenience foods.' Since my illness I regard food as medicine and eat accordingly. Too many people will pop a pill hoping for a quick fix and will end up on a lifelong regimen of medication not meant to cure anything, but maintain you in a survival mode so you can continue to buy prescriptions. I know I'm cynical about this, but the cynicism of the pharmaceutical industry puts me in the shade.

[TBF]

12. On "greed" - when the economic system is capitalism and the

system rewards greed, then that is the behavior we are going to see. You're not half as cynical as I am my friend.

[HockeyMom]

3. Wealth

Isn't there a correlation between wealth and life expectancy? Do we really need a study on this? Look at the places they cited in the article with the highest life expectancy. These people aren't eating cheap junk food just to fill up their stomach, and because of their wealth have access to better medical care. I live in Collier County mentioned in this article. There are a lot of RICH retirees in this place.

I give this article a big DUH?

[TBF]

5. Sure, "duh" is one response - but I think it's important that they document this sort of thing.

It's not like democrats are doing much to raise awareness either - with the exception of Michelle Obama who has thankfully started talking about child obesity.

[Bragi]

7. This is valuable "evidence" regarding social inequities

We need evidence to measure social progress or lack of it, to understand the effects of public policy, and to understand what is happening in society.

I say that because the people who are most hostile to "evidence" are right-wing ideologues, who don't like to see the adverse social impacts of their policies confirmed, measured and exposed.

[mainer]

11. Not entirely about wealth

"Communities with large immigrant populations — Southern California, for example — fared considerably better than average despite relatively high poverty rates. The worst-performing counties were clustered primarily in Appalachia, the Deep South and the lower Midwest."

It's more about smoking and obesity. Immigrant populations tend not to be as obese, perhaps because they've held onto their healthier native diets.

[Burma Jones]

8. This is correlated to smoking and obesity rates, but other causes are being studied...

In 158 counties, it dropped for both men and women. In some cases, counties with plummeting life expectancy were next to or very near counties with rising longevity. There is some debate about why life expectancy estimates rose and fell more in some counties than others. Murray and his colleagues said they checked issues like poverty or racial makeup, and those didn't explain the difference. They believe high rates of obesity, smoking and other preventable health problems may be main reasons.

Some experts disagree, saying the findings may be tied to the availability of good health care or with the migration of healthy people from one place to another.
Perhaps young blacks and whites are leaving to go off to college or work somewhere else. "That leaves the least educated and the least healthy" back in the original counties, Anderson said. Or, in some places, the arrival of healthy Hispanic immigrants may be the reason, said Dr. Roger Rochat, an Emory University public health professor and trained demographer. But Murray said his research finds migration theories are not the answer; there's been little movement in or out of most places with the lowest life expectancy.

The counties with the largest increases in male life expectancy, though, were metro areas lush with jobs and universities _ almost four years in Georgia's Fulton County (Atlanta) and more than three years in New York City, Washington and nearby Alexandria, Va.

more:
http://wtop.com/?nid=267&sid=2423207

[raccoon]

9. "The worst-performing counties were clustered primarily in Appalachia, the Deep South and the lower

Midwest." (from the article)

No shit, Sherlock.

[get the red out]

10. Sigh

Being originally from the Appalachian region of Kentucky I can site several major things; lack of access to good health care (especially preventive), smoking, obesity, and wide-spread drug addiction.

Even when people have health coverage they have to travel miles and miles for various health care services like specialists.