For the first time in 22 years, the average life expectancy has declined in the United States.  For men, the drop was from 76.5 years in 2014 to 76.3 in 2015.  For women, it was 81.3 to 81.2.  While this may not seem like a lot, the life expectancy in America has been rising or remaining steady for the past two decades.  This drop is concerning because this hardly ever happens.

When measuring life expectancy, there are two ways to start.  There is life expectancy at birth and life expectancy at age 65.  The life expectancy at age 65 did not drop which means that many of the diseases behind the lower life expectancy are happening around middle age, possibly even lower.  The death rate for people in their 30s, 40s, and 50s has flat lined or slowly increased over the years.  The reason the life expectancy at birth dropped is because a significant amount of people died before reaching the life expectancy age.  Death rates for eight out of the top ten leading causes of death showed a significant rise.  Heart disease, the most common cause of death in the US, rose 0.9%.  Chronic lower respiratory diseases rose 2.7%, unintentional injuries 6.7%, stroke 3%, Alzheimer’s disease 15.7%, diabetes 1.9%, kidney disease 1.5%, and suicide 2.3%.

Other Western nations are not seeing similar drops in their life expectancy, suggesting something unique about the United State’s predicament.  According to the most recent study from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the United States ranks 28^th world wide in life expectancy.  Experts are looking at obesity and economic struggles as major causes, but nothing is definite.  Income inequality, nutrition deficiencies, and prolonged unemployment may also be contributing factors.  On the bright side, the death rate from cancer saw a significant drop because of fast-developing research and early detection.