What's Your Life Expectancy?Since the dawn of mankind, life expectancy has increased with each passing generation. King Tut was a ripe old man when he died at 18 or 19. Flash-forward a few thousand years to 1980, when my grandfather died at 72, a respectable age to pass at that time. Today, according to the Centers for Disease Control, the average man can expect to live nearly 78 years.
But according to recent reports, our overall life expectancy in the United States is in decline, with the worst statistics coming from regions in the Midwest and the South. The Northeast and large parts of California are among the few areas where life expectancy continues to rise.
There are many reasons for this, of course: Diet, economic hardship, disposition, and even the weather. Still, with all of our progress, should life expectancy really be declining anywhere, regardless of how solid the reasons may be?
If you're curious where you fall in the spectrum, you can calculate your life expectancy at BlueZones.com, a new Website promoting longer and healthier lives.
Your results might surprise you.
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I think the problem is a broken U.S. healthcare system. We may have the smartest, most talented doctors and medical experts in the world, but our system is antiquated and non-responsive.
i think this turns our attention to inequalities within the United States. this is an important issue that does not get much press especially outside of the United States. People in foreign countries falsely think of America as utopia; the influx of immigrants is proof of this- i am aware that there are many ocuntries in the world where there are wars and people have a hardlife- but even people who are doing well in other countries sell everything and come here because of the image of the US that is portrayed in the media- unfortunately, development in america is not equally distributed. as you point out, there are pockets within the country that are ignored and discriminated if i may so; the aftermath of hurricane katrina, your comment of declining life expectancy are good examples.