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Life
expectancy reaches record high of 77.9
years, report finds
Sep 13, 2007--Life expectancy for U.S.
residents in 2005 reached a record high of
77.9 years, an increase from the previous
record high of 77.8 years in 2004, according
to a preliminary report released on
Wednesday by the
National
Center for Health Statistics at
CDC, the
AP/Philadelphia Inquirer
reports.
For the report, NCHS considered about 99% of
the deaths in all 50 states and Washington,
D.C., in 2005 (Stobbe,
AP/Philadelphia Inquirer,
9/13). According to the report, life
expectancy for blacks increased to 73.2
years in 2005 from 73.1 years in 2004, and
life expectancy for whites remained about
the same at 78.3 years.
The report found that mortality rates among
all residents for heart disease, cancer and
stroke decreased in 2005. In addition, the
report found that deaths from HIV decreased
to 12,456 in 2005 from 13,063 in 2004.
However, mortality rates for respiratory
disease, accidents, Alzheimer's disease and
Parkinson's disease increased in 2005,
according to the report.
The report also found that age-related
deaths decreased for whites, blacks and
Asians in 2005 but increased for Hispanics
(Harper,
Washington Times, 9/13).
The overall number of deaths increased by
50,000 in 2005, the report found (AP/Philadelphia
Inquirer,
9/13).
Hsiang-Ching Kung, an NCHS statistician and
a co-author of the report, attributed the
decreases in mortality rates for heart
disease, cancer and stroke to "better
prevention efforts and medical advances" in
treatments. He added, "If death rates from
certain leading causes of death continue to
decline, we should continue to see
improvements in life expectancy" (Washington
Times,
9/13).
The
report is available
online.
Broadcast Coverage
ABC's
"World
News" on Wednesday reported on
the report. The segment includes comments
from Bruce Johnson, an oncologist at the
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute;
Steven Nissen, chair of the cardiology
department at the
Cleveland Clinic; and Robert
Anderson of NCHS (Stark, "World News," ABC,
9/12). Video of the segment is available
online.
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