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I think the American life expectancy is a little less than Japan because our diets are so poor here. The Japanese eat much more healthier than we do....
Location: By the sea, by the sea, by the beautiful sea
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My concern is not specific to life expectancy but to the fact that we used to view ourselves as leaders in the world and are now becoming content to settle for whatever.
Location: By the sea, by the sea, by the beautiful sea
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One factor in a US woman's longer life expectancy is that women in general tend to be more concientious in scheduling regular medical check-ups and the resultant earlier diagnosis/treatment of problems.
I think it is a combination of things - part lifestyle, part health care system deficiencies, part racial/socio-economic imbalances.
As far as the women living longer, some studies suggest it is also because they tend to discuss and emote and externalize stress, while men tend more to internalize and allow it to build up inside.
Researchers said several factors have contributed to the United States falling behind other industrialized nations. A major one is that 45 million Americans lack health insurance, while Canada and many European countries have universal health care, they say.
But “it’s not as simple as saying we don’t have national health insurance,” said Sam Harper, an epidemiologist at McGill University in Montreal. “It’s not that easy.”
Among the other factors:
Adults in the United States have one of the highest obesity rates in the world. Nearly a third of U.S. adults 20 years and older are obese, while about two-thirds are overweight, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.
“The U.S. has the resources that allow people to get fat and lazy,” said Paul Terry, an assistant professor of epidemiology at Emory University in Atlanta. “We have the luxury of choosing a bad lifestyle as opposed to having one imposed on us by hard times.”
Racial disparities. Black Americans have an average life expectancy of 73.3 years, five years shorter than white Americans.
Black American males have a life expectancy of 69.8 years, slightly longer than the averages for Iran and Syria and slightly shorter than in Nicaragua and Morocco.
A relatively high percentage of babies born in the U.S. die before their first birthday, compared with other industrialized nations.
Forty countries, including Cuba, Taiwan and most of Europe had lower infant mortality rates than the U.S. in 2004. The U.S. rate was 6.8 deaths for every 1,000 live births. It was 13.7 for Black Americans, the same as Saudi Arabia.
Murray, from the University of Washington, said improved access to health insurance could increase life expectancy. But, he predicted, the U.S. won’t move up in the world rankings as long as the health care debate is limited to insurance.
Policymakers also should focus on ways to reduce cancer, heart disease and lung disease, said Murray. He advocates stepped-up efforts to reduce tobacco use, control blood pressure, reduce cholesterol and regulate blood sugar.
“Even if we focused only on those four things, we would go along way toward improving health care in the United States,” Murray said. “The starting point is the recognition that the U.S. does not have the best health care system. There are still an awful lot of people who think it does.”
I'm not concerned per say. There are people that embrace a healthy life style and those that despite all the science behind it choose not to. Smoking and a sedentary lifestyle coupled with overeating are the two biggest health threats in the US today.
We need to take personal responsibility and practice prevention.
I'm not concerned because heridity is more of a factor than location.
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