Why do Americans die younger than Britons?

New life expectancy figures show Americans some way behind countries like Canada, the UK and Australia. Why?

Living in the world's richest country comes at a price, and it's measured in life years.


Men in the US are on average aged 75 when they die. That is 1.5 years younger than men in the UK and 3.5 years younger than men in Australia, says a new study.

American women live on average to just under 81 - about three years younger than the average Australian woman.

www.bbc.co.uk...

I guess when I read this story then I thought it is the same old, same old story....... certain risk factors, the usual suspects are to blame.... BUT then ii thought we have known this for years and YET nothing changes !!!

The bigger scandal here is that whoever is in power, whatever the latest medical technology or breakthrough, whatever the latest fade diet then the same results occur over and over and over again !!

"The researchers suggest that the relatively low life expectancies in the US cannot be explained by the size of the nation, racial diversity, or economics," says the document, which ranks the US 38th in the world for life expectancy overall.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/24824b7a4a91.gif[/atsimg]

Regards

PDUK

The correlation seems to suggest that those countries with nationalised healthcare provide their citizens with a longer life expectancy. But considering the US spends twice the percentage of its GDP on Healthcare than Britain, you would expect better results from America. Americans must be wondering where all that moneys going?

reply to post by PurpleDog UK


Oh no we dont live 3 years longer pisssss i could care less we are all going to die sometime. 78 is very old and sounds painful. I bet those 3 years relate to our production level which out weighs all three of your countries combined. not trying to talk crap but we work our arses off

Originally posted by PurpleDog UK
"The researchers suggest that the relatively low life expectancies in the US cannot be explained by the size of the nation, racial diversity, or economics," says the document, which ranks the US 38th in the world for life expectancy overall.

Well among other things...

The US has a much larger percentage of immigrants than do those other countries. Who were not born nor raised here so no telling if they had good healthy diets and health care as youths. I'm not saying that's the only reason. But there are large enough groups of immigrants who come here from poorer countries with horrible health services and bad nutrition as youths. [I wonder how that factors in?] which can sway those numbers vs those who were born and raised here.

Now, couple that with all the fast food or prepackaged garbage and job related stress plus the 40+ hour work week. I had a job once for 7 years where I worked 60+ hours a week. I made damned good money but didn't have much of a social life.

That's why I quit and moved on

The countries you listed have a low-cost or free healthcare system we lack that in the states. That's the reason why the rate is higher in the states is because people simply can't afford to see a doctor.

Health care is probably the main reason, America spends twice as much however look at the difference in population numbers. The main problem is lazy children being raised by lazy parents. Children that are spending their childhood in darked rooms playing either xbox or Warcraft. They will tend to grow into unhealthy adults with health complications. Say what you want about Scotland and its drinking but the children are definitely more active than American kids, I have seen this first hand when I lived in the states for 6 months, in the cities walking seems to be a foreign past time, people drive everywhere.

Originally posted by woodwardjnr
The correlation seems to suggest that those countries with nationalised healthcare provide their citizens with a longer life expectancy. But considering the US spends twice the percentage of its GDP on Healthcare than Britain, you would expect better results from America. Americans must be wondering where all that moneys going?

Frivolous lawsuits which drive up Health insurance costs. Add to that Big pharmacy who jacks up the price in a fee market environment. I have a friend. A Dr of internal Medicine. He is retiring this year. He says hes glad hes leaving because the way things are going he'd be spending more time practicing legal defense than practicing medicine.

Don't get me wrong. There are Doctors who deserve to be put through the wringer but it's getting to be over the top in lawsuits. If you live in the States you'll see TV commercials asking people if they have suffered from this or that. Those are adverts by modern day Ambulance chasers

reply to post by SLAYER69



Yeah, my partner has a friend who is a neurosurgeon in the states, and he's just about had enough. The amount he has to pay in insurance to protect himself from frivolous lawsuits seriously eats into his take-home pay, and the worry and heart-ache it causes knowing that if he makes even the tiniest of mistakes ever, his career and life will be ruined.

I'd say anything within 5 years is close enough to call it even.

So were about the same.

Proccessed food, fast food, polluted cities, less physical activity (due to tv, movies and Internet) Stress and many more... take your pick..

These people living in under developed countries, eating natural organic foods, instead of processed junk food, active outdoor lifestyles, flouride free fresh water (in some cases)

Now imagine if these people had the health care we did... That gap between our life expectancy and theirs would grow a whole lot bigger..

We have healed alot of illnesses but have also brought alot more to the table.. And most of them are through the modern western lifestyles we live..

This was obviously made pre-Fukushima...

As an individual currently studding health promotion questions like this are fundamental, why does one group in society live longer than another and how can we balance the scales. The answer to your question could be found by looking at the wider epidemiological data, it may be there are higher poverty rates, smoking rates, obesity, lack of exercise and so on in America compared to other states. One may find culturally that people in America have different attitudes towards their health that promote a less healthy lifestyle and it is this that contributes to them participating in health risks such as poor diet.

Most of this information can be found in looking through the academic evidence and the epidemiological studies however there is always two ways of looking at things and the overall study of health promotion and epidemiology in this context is incredibly complex. For example Brittan may have a better life expectancy than America overall, but in some parts of Glasgow deprivation and inequalities in health had led to some areas having a lower life expectancy than areas of Baghdad, these health inequalities must be addressed. If you want to know more about it I would strongly recommend reading the “Black Report”, it may be old but it is seminal in highlighting the plight of health inequalities in society.

In the contest of America, form what I have read I would guess that the biggest inequality in health is poverty. We know that people in America who are impoverished cannot access the same level of health care as those in states such as the UK where the welfare state provides “universal and comprehensive health care for free, for all” (or that’s the idea). People who are impoverished in the UK are less likely to have a adequate diet, exercise, and are more likely to be smokers, drinkers, obese and have long term mental health issues, it is probable that the picture is very similar in America. The difference is that in America the state does not provide the same level of comprehensive care as the NHS and Social Services provide in the UK. The capitalist ideology of America is not forth coming in providing the same level of support of the poor in society as a socialist ideology would.

Without actually going and analysing the evidence I cannot really give a definitive answer to your question, that is assuming that the answer exists.

Published studies estimate that 44,789 deaths out of 2,401,584 over age 18 in
2005 are attributable to a lack of health insurance

www.pophealthmetrics.com...

Or, 1.8% of deaths in the U.S. were as a result of lack of healthcare. Just wanted to put this out (it's from the study cited in the article) before everyone jumped on the Nat'l Health Bandwagon.

The devil is in the detail.

The average is lower because the US has a higher child / infant mortality which tends to bring the average down somewhat, although other factors contribute.

Generally speaking, the developed world has good life expectancy and good child / infant mortality and on a country-by-country comparison the argument is over a year or two here and there. In the developed world the differences can be put down to lifestyle, diet and access to decent heath care.

Almost all of Africa has shocking child / infant mortality and that brings the average life expectancy crashing down, but if you survive childhood, then you have a reasonable change of having a long (albeit poor) life. As a case in point, look at all the images doing the round on the news about the current famine in Ethiopia and consider how many of these poor malnourished children will make it passed their fifth birthday, yet the parents will probably survive.

Regards

Murders and shootings/ gang related violence of young men in america would have to play apart in this average age difference too.
Plus the Health care aspect or lack there of wouldnt help the American people to much either.

Health care for profit?

Or maybe it's all them guns they are so quick to tell us about and use as proof of why the USA is so much better than the UK.

And america, sending children, oops i meant young men and women to die in senseless wars on terror.
Stop starting wars and this might help the average american age increase too.

But the more i think of it,,,,,,,,, why would your government want you americans to live longer.
You would be a less of a burden on the system dead, one less mouth to feed, and less of a burden on the health system and community infrustructure ect ect..........
Your government doesnt want you to live long, you would have already retired by this average age, you wouldnt be concidered as contributing your country anymore.
So it makes sense when you think about it.
Agenda 21 comes to my mind.

Originally posted by woodwardjnr
The correlation seems to suggest that those countries with nationalised healthcare provide their citizens with a longer life expectancy. But considering the US spends twice the percentage of its GDP on Healthcare than Britain, you would expect better results from America. Americans must be wondering where all that moneys going?

I agree with your comments

The lack of good quality health-care and education in the US is a huge contributory factor to mortality rates.

Affordable health-care in the US is virtually none existent due to the litigation culture and greed of the insurance companies who push up prices using litigation as the excuse.

To top that, the problem of overstretch of resources due to immigration and the current economic situation pushes the welfare cases through the roof.

Originally posted by NurseNaughty

Originally posted by woodwardjnr
The correlation seems to suggest that those countries with nationalised healthcare provide their citizens with a longer life expectancy. But considering the US spends twice the percentage of its GDP on Healthcare than Britain, you would expect better results from America. Americans must be wondering where all that moneys going?

I agree with your comments

The lack of good quality health-care and education in the US is a huge contributory factor to mortality rates.

Affordable health-care in the US is virtually none existent due to the litigation culture and greed of the insurance companies who push up prices using litigation as the excuse.

To top that, the problem of overstretch of resources due to immigration and the current economic situation pushes the welfare cases through the roof.

All the points you raised there could also be applied to the UK in some capacity as well.......... I do think however that the American People have 'evolved' into a more unhealthy species due to various factors including, lack of exercise (car everywhere because of distances), excessive consumption (huge dinners and excesses bought by wealth creation over last several generations), environmental issues (levels of pollution caused by waste and man made intervention into the world around the population)

I think if we could see into the future 50 -70 years then China will probably have followed the American Dream....
Cheers
PDUK..


PS...... I visit Hospitals in the West Midlands because of my work and I have never SEEN you in any of them.......with an avatar like that I'm sure I would have remembered ...

reply to post by PurpleDog UK


Yes I agree, there are many factors..

It seem that the developed world needs to learn to lay off the chips, and pass the excess to the have nots in the world

We were not meant to be fat and live in comfort

We are built to run!

PS...... I visit Hospitals in the West Midlands because of my work and I have never SEEN you in any of them.......with an avatar like that I'm sure I would have remembered ...

I would hardly put a pic of myself, but If we have crossed paths then you wouldn't have seen me anyway as I would be like a whirlwind and a blur of work!