As deaths from opioids rise, US life expectancy falls

As deaths from opioids rise, US life expectancy falls

Life expectancy in the U.S. is falling, becoming a concerning trend.  The last time U.S. life expectancy dropped for even one year was in 1993, and that was largely due to the AIDS epidemic.  A recent report from the National Vital Statistics System, Mortality in the United States, 2016, shows a decline in the number of years expected to live in America for the second year in a row.  The surge for this reduction is strongly influenced by the continued worsening opioid epidemic in the nation. 

The concerning factor in this new report is not only the troubling grip of the opioid epidemic on U.S. citizens, but the fact life expectancy has dropped two years in a row.  The 2016 average life expectancy fell from 78.7 in 2015 to 78.6 in 2016, following a decline from 78.9 in 2014. 

Overall, more than 2.7 million Americans died in 2016 which was almost 32,000 more people than the previous year making it the most deaths in a single year since the government has been counting.  Part of this could be attributed to the nation’s growing aging population.  Surprisingly however, it’s not older Americans who are dying off the fastest.  Younger Americans had higher rates of death than the elderly.  This is how statistics tell the story:

Between 2015 and 2016, death rates dropped as follows:

·      For people over 85 – 2.1%

·      Ages 74-85 – 2.3%

·      Ages 65-74 – 0.5%

However, during this same time frame, death rates increased as follows:

·      Ages 35-44 – 6.7%

·      Ages 25-34 – 20.5%

·      Ages 15-24 – 7.8%

Globally, the U.S. does not have a good showing in life expectancy in comparison to other countries.  For example:

·      Japan has the highest life expectancy in the world at 84.06 years in 2016, which was up 0.26 from 2015

·      Canada has a life expectancy of 82.2 years

·      The United Kingdom has a life expectancy of 81.1 years

Other countries beating out the United States on life expectancy as of 2015 were Puerto Rico, Chile, Guam, Cuba, Czech Republic, Lebanon, and many others.

The reason why life expectancy is an important indicator of a country’s well-being is that is tells what is going on in that country and is a clear signal of a nation with a problem.  A huge part of the problem is the sharp rise in deaths from Americans hooked on opioids, largely seen in those ages 15-44.  In 2015, 33,000 died from opioid overdoses.  In 2016, that number rose to 42,200, almost double the number who dies from all other drugs combined.  Each day there are almost 100 opioid-related deaths in the U.S. and it shows no sign of slowing down.

Even though opioids are a big part of the blame for the substantial increase in U.S. deaths, another disturbing cause is that suicides have increased along with deaths from alcohol.  

Other findings from this report include:

·      Life expectancy for men decreased but held steady for women. The average lifespan for men is about 76 and 81 for women.

·      Deaths due to guns rose for a second year to nearly 39,000.  They had been around 33,500 deaths a few years ago.

·      West Virginia has the highest drug overdose death rate with 52 deaths per 100,000 residents in 2016.  Ohio and New Hampshire were second and third, both at about 39 deaths per 100,000.