Americans Living Longer Than Ever

A US government report recently announced that US life expectancy has surpassed 78 years, a hopeful sign yet one that still lags behind the estimated life span from about 30 other countries. This data came from the National Center for Health Statistics, releasing their preliminary report of numbers gathered on 2006. the data was based from more than 95 percent of death certificates collected during the said year.

The increase in life expectancy for the average American seem to stem from falling mortality rates from the various leading causes of death in the country. Life expectancy is the period that a person born is expected to live, assuming that the mortality trends remain constant. Federal health officials further report that there was a falling mortality rate for nine of the 15 leading causes of death in the US during 2006. This included a falling mortality rate for heart disease, diabetes, cancer and accidents.

Health statisticians also noted that there was a more than six percent decline in stroke and respiratory disease cases and a five percent drop of heart disease and diabetes deaths in 2006. Another notable figure decline for 2006 was on flu and pneumonia deaths, which were down by 13 percent from the figures during 2005. this drop in figures may be the reason that there was 22,000 fewer deaths in 2006 than during the year preceeding it.

The life expectancy increase was felt in both genders. Although the gap between them seem to be closing, women still tend to live longer than men. Women are expected to live until they are 81, while for men, it's 75. A major reason for the closing gap of life expectancies between men and women can be attributed to the increase in women smokers in 2006. All in all, about 2.4 million Americans died in 2006 according to the report. This puts the death rate to 776 per 100,000 of the population for 2006, down from 799 per 100,000 in 2005.

In terms of life expectancy in the international scene, Japan still ranks first, with children born in 2006 expected to live for 83 years, according to data coming from the World Health Organization. Switzerland and Australia also found their way on top of the list, with their numbers still ahead of life expectancy for 2006 in the US despite the marked increase.

Source: msnbc.msn.com/id/25097931