Americas’ Delight as Life Expectancy Increases

Americans are rejoicing as the life expectancy of US adults begins to climb.

Whilst the jump is only small, with 2017 recording, 78.6, 2018 recording 78.7 and 2019 continuing to grow to 78.8 years of age.

This growth is a credit to the significant drop in drug and cancer related deaths.

In 2018 alone there was a decrease of 4.1% of drug related overdoses within the US, this equating to approximately 3,000 cases. These mortality rates include the use of both illicit and prescription drugs.

It is the first time since 1999 within the United States that the drug overdose rate has seen a drop as opposed to an increase.

America also has cause for celebration with cancer rates seeing substantial declines as the years progress. From 1991 to 2017 the rate of death caused by cancer plummeted a huge 29%. With 2016 to 2017 alone, contributing a drop of 2.2%, with that continuing in 2018 with a further 2% decrease for cancer mortality rates.

A report from the National Centre for Health concluded that of the US’ top ten leading causes of death, six showed significant decline. Including that of heart disease, which currently sits as the leading cause of mortality within the United States, reporting a decline of 0.8%.

These results can be attributed to the success of both cancer and opioid disorder treatments, as well as the continued research surrounding these prominent medical issues.