US slips to 49th in life expectancy

US slips to 49th in life expectancy

The United States currently ranks 49th in the world in overall life expectancy, according to a study published in the academic journal Health Affairs, slipping dramatically during the last decade.

"As of September 23, 2010, the United States ranked forty-ninth for both male and female life expectancy combined," concludes the study, conducted by Columbia University health policy professors Peter A. Muennig and Sherry A. Glied, which will appear in the November edition of the influential peer-reviewed journal.

...

Noting that the United States spends over twice as much per capita on health care than other industrialized nations, it adds: "The observation that Americans are spending relatively more on health but living relatively shorter, less healthy lives has led some critics to allege that the US health care system is 'uniquely inefficient.'"

Or maybe we just surround ourselves and eat far more dangerous crap than most.

Heck Yeah for privatized medicine.

Cuba is ahead of America in life-expectancy

Just like they are in literacy...

This isn't really surprising.

The United States has gigantic gaps in the quality of life between the rich and poor.

Too many calories of the wrong types of food

When I saw Sicko a few years ago, I decided on the spot that I would NEVER travel to the United States. God forbid I ever got sick while I was there. You guys need to socialise healthcare like Europe and Australia. Your current system does NOT work and will never work.

IRM

This really doesnt surprise me especially because i just saw a report about mcdonalds hamburgers, and how they wont decompose for at least erm.... a couple decades. i really fell sorry for some people over there and how much there mislead.

reply to post by pkpuck


The shortening of life expectancy likely has nothing to do with McDonald Hamburgers. What's sad is the amount of medical technology at our disposal and, yet, we're 49th.

reply to post by DevolutionEvolvd


Well why is it youre 49th then, dont get offended because its your country, its got big problems and clearly feeding people crazy food isnt gonna help, its the same in my country.
Look the big corps dont want people to live that long they want us to play our part and to die thats it, they dont care and untill we bring about a revolution and fight off the marshall law its gonna stay like that.

reply to post by pkpuck


[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/72b39bd817b5.jpg[/atsimg]

That's why. Carbohydrate consumption has increased, total fat has decreased. Industrial seed oil consumption has increased and animal fat consumption has decreased.

You have to understand that the United States began the "westernization" of food. Therefore, we're way ahead of most other countries in terms of its long term effects.

Here is the study mentioned in the op: content.healthaffairs.org...

reply to post by loam


S&F

So we changed our world, adapted to the changes, evolved - and now our medicine doesn't work anymore. Why not? Because medicine tries to restore our adapted cells and bodies to their original state, without restoring the environment that caused the adaptations.

No surprise there.

reply to post by DevolutionEvolvd


You mean the carbohydrates like the corn-fructose your government subsidizes and your fast food chains put in everything...

Fast food and the absence of virtually any meaningful preventative health-care is the reason...

Originally posted by ghostsoldier
You mean the carbohydrates like the corn-fructose your government subsidizes and your fast food chains put in everything...

yup.

Fast food and the absence of virtually any meaningful preventative health-care is the reason...

Why are you lumping "fast food" into one entity?

And, if you can, please tell me what "preventative healthcare" system works better....

Blaming the healthcare system in the U.S. for the low life expectancy is just plain ignorant.

Americans as a whole lead very unhealthy lifestyles.

Take a walk down the street tomorrow, and count the number of obese people vs the number of "physically fit" people you see.

Just a guess, but I would venture to say you will see at least 10 obese people for every physically fit person you see.