US Life Expectancy Declines

[Spiral]

One thought I have often had during these past 6 years as a McDougaller is this: If eating the Standard American Diet is so unhealthy, why is it that life expectancy in the US is gradually getting longer?

This, rhetorical question, of course, side steps the important issue of quality of life. How long one can live free of disability? Even if we can life a long life eating Cheetos and Bacon, it's pretty clear that many of those years will be tethered to an IV bag.

But this morning, in the BBC news, I read US life expectancy declines for first time in 20 years

Here's an excerpt.

Data from the National Center for Health Statistics showed a drop for men from 76.5 years in 2014 to 76.3 in 2015, and from 81.3 to 81.2 for women.

The figures show rises in several causes of death, especially heart disease, dementia and accidental infant deaths.

Life expectancy last fell during the peak of the HIV/Aids crisis in 1993.

It has improved slightly in most of the years since World War Two, rising from a little more than 68 years in 1950.

It also fell in 1980, after a severe outbreak of flu.

This decline was not due to an AIDS epidemic or an outbreak of the flu. Instead the culprit was heart disease. Perhaps a healthy diet can't prevent the flu or AIDS. But I'm pretty sure it can prevent heart disease.

C'mon, man! Eat your potatoes!

[GlennR]

I was surprised that the discrepancy between Canada and the US is so large. In Canada the expectancy for males is 80.2 and for females 84.1. I would have thought it would be a lot closer given the similarity of diet.

[Werner1950]

I was surprised that the discrepancy between Canada and the US is so large. In Canada the expectancy for males is 80.2 and for females 84.1. I would have thought it would be a lot closer given the similarity of diet.

I wonder if the gun laws in Canada make the difference?

[bbq]

New statistics show one of every three U.S. deaths caused by cardiovascular disease
http://newsroom.heart.org/news/new-statistics-show-one-of-every-three-u-s-deaths-caused-by-cardiovascular-disease

Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics—2016 Update
http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/133/4/e38

Between 2003 and 2012, certain aspects of diet quality improved in the United States, including increases in whole grains and reductions in sugar-sweetened beverages.

Whole Grains Are Causing The Obesity Epidemic!!!
http://www.plantifulhealth.com/whole-grains-are-causing-the-obesity-epidemic/

[vgpedlr]

I was surprised that the discrepancy between Canada and the US is so large. In Canada the expectancy for males is 80.2 and for females 84.1. I would have thought it would be a lot closer given the similarity of diet.

My bet is on better access to basic health care. Many problems that can be easily treated that might otherwise develop worse and worse complications. I believe that's also why the Blue Zones have their remarkable longevity: they have managed to find a sweet spot of enough modernity to have decent health care and sanitation, while maintaining the traditional lifestyle of good diet, low stress, social support etc.

BTW: Jeff showed data relating to this in one of his DVD presentations that is several years old.

[chrisv]

In 2007 to 2009, the prevalence of obesity in Canada was 24.1%, over 10 percentage points lower than in the United States (34.4%).

I am guessing difference in obesity rates explains life expectancy differences.

Of course, the question then is, what explains the difference in obesity rates?

[geo]

I wonder if the gun laws in Canada make the difference?

Nope! The reason for the lowered life expectancy is due to the death rate increase of 8 of the top 10 diseases. A talking head Doctor I saw on TV said basically its all due to us getting so fat in the US. With the biggest death rate increase being in heart related diseases.

I.e., Overweight -> death rate increases in top 10 diseases -> lower life expectancy for men and women (0.1 year for women, 0.2 year for men)

And since we are getting fatter every year, expect this to increase going forward... so much for new drugs/treatments/procedures, health care policies and insurance programs.

How to reverse all this...get at the root cause... its the food, the whole food, and nothing but the food, so help you all

But then again don't believe all the hype...the tv news said its the first drop in average age of death in over 20 years...thats wrong! Here's a news report from WebMD from 2010 on a similar drop and noting there have been at least 3 such drops in the years before 2010! http://www.webmd.com/healthy-aging/news ... tancy-down

Compare this with what the news is saying today...

[roundcoconut]

Honestly, I sometimes think a lower life expectancy is probably a good thing, if we are not producing elderly people with high quality of life.

I'd love to see people who can still tie their shoes (meaning, they can reach their shoes, and still have the fine motor skills of someone with no inflammation, and still have the cognitive skills of someone without encroaching dementia), who are filling their grocery carts with real food, and are still full of plans for their years.

I would just be so happy to see people living long lives, IF there is the vibrancy of good health to extend. Do you guys see that too? We need lots more people like Ruth Heidrich and Caldwell Esselstyn!

[openmind]

One thought I have often had during these past 6 years as a McDougaller is this: If eating the Standard American Diet is so unhealthy, why is it that life expectancy in the US is gradually getting longer?

This, rhetorical question, of course, side steps the important issue of quality of life. How long one can live free of disability? Even if we can life a long life eating Cheetos and Bacon, it's pretty clear that many of those years will be tethered to an IV bag.

But this morning, in the BBC news, I read US life expectancy declines for first time in 20 years

Here's an excerpt.

Data from the National Center for Health Statistics showed a drop for men from 76.5 years in 2014 to 76.3 in 2015, and from 81.3 to 81.2 for women.

The figures show rises in several causes of death, especially heart disease, dementia and accidental infant deaths.

Life expectancy last fell during the peak of the HIV/Aids crisis in 1993.

It has improved slightly in most of the years since World War Two, rising from a little more than 68 years in 1950.

It also fell in 1980, after a severe outbreak of flu.

This decline was not due to an AIDS epidemic or an outbreak of the flu. Instead the culprit was heart disease. Perhaps a healthy diet can't prevent the flu or AIDS. But I'm pretty sure it can prevent heart disease.

C'mon, man! Eat your potatoes!

What motivates me more than longevity is quality of life- whether I go out at 70 or at 105, I want to be in good health.

[ETeSelle]

What motivates me more than longevity is quality of life- whether I go out at 70 or at 105, I want to be in good health.

Yup. I am utterly uninterested in living long in anything but good health. I'll be making quite sure that does NOT happen to me.

[colonyofcells]

It is probably more significant to measure how many people actually are able to be active and productive till death. I am not much interested in knowing how many more wonderful years aged americans are lying in bed disabled before death.

[roundcoconut]

I honestly wouldn't want to trade places with nearly any of the retired or elderly people I know.

Even if these people have bodies that are not in any physical pain, what kind of lives are they leading? Are they having new experiences? Are they forming healthy human connections, and are they strengthening the connections they already have? Are they growing as people? Are they enjoying their days, and are they excited about their lives?

Well, by that standard, there are a lot of young people and middle-aged people who don't have a great quality of life, but I think that also plays into things.

It seems like a vicious cycle, where the people who aren't happy with life, challenged by life, excited about life, seek refuge in sedentary escapism and self-destructive food/drink.

And people who are caught in patterns of sedentary escapism & self-destructive food/drink, probably have a tougher time turning things around for themselves, because their physical existence becomes sluggish, depressed or painful.

It's hard to motivate people to extend their lives via healthy eating, when it sounds like a bad bargain -- prolonging the very existence that they're trying to mentally "escape" on a daily basis.

Wow -- coming through for you guys with all this sunny optimism! You're welcome!

[GlennR]

Even if these people have bodies that are not in any physical pain, what kind of lives are they leading? Are they having new experiences? Are they forming healthy human connections, and are they strengthening the connections they already have? Are they growing as people? Are they enjoying their days, and are they excited about their lives?

My in-laws are in their nineties and have pain, less mobility, ... but they have no desire to move on. They enjoy their books and their tv shows and if they are less active now, less social, who are any of us to judge their quality of life? I've lived with psoriatic arthritis and pain for four decades but I wouldn't want to miss a minute of my life.

I don't think any of us can speak for others.

[ETeSelle]

I honestly wouldn't want to trade places with nearly any of the retired or elderly people I know.

Me either. I'm 54, and I'm amazed by how many people my age say "I"m old," all the time, complaining about their various ills. They don't DO much of anything, and they look and act like old people. Personally, I don't plan to EVER spend time with old people, including when I'm old. There's a reason why my BFF is 17 years younger than I am. As soon as you start saying you're old and acting like you're old, you ARE old.

I do everything I possibly can to make sure I will stay young and vital for as long as possible (McDougall diet, exercise, kayaking, riding, hiking, etc.). Once I'm not feeling young anymore, I'll bow out.

[roundcoconut]

ETeSelle, YES, I feel that way too! People who act old are the last thing in the world I want to hang around with.

Have you guys ever noticed that representations of the over-60 crowd hardly ever show them having their own life? Like, if you watch a Crestor commercial or something, the images are of the older person going to their granddaughter's dance recital, or going to their grandson's soccer game.

The old people are just spectators and passive participants, reveling in the reflected happiness and vitality of others.

I mean, screw that, man!

I've always found it particularly condescending when people use the term "keeping busy" as a positive description of an old person's life. "Like, Old Neighbor Bertha is making a latchhook Last Supper for us for Christmas, and it's totally hideous, but it keeps her busy." Kind of like, "Let's let the old person feel that they're still contributing something." Who needs that!

The idea is, I don't think we have many roles for people once they are past a certain age. We just hope they can stay busy and stave off loneliness while they wait to die.

For those of us here, I hope we have radical paths, where we uncover new paths and new skills well into our sixties and seventies. If we can do that, then it wouldn't bother me if we wind up dying younger than our own parents did -- even though I think we will do much better than that!