U.S. Life Expectancy Declines

Newly released data from the federal government show a slight decrease in life expectancy for residents of the United States. According to the report, West Virginia is the worst state for mortality, with a death rate there that is almost 1.5 times greater than Hawaii, where people are living the longest.

Data gathered by the National Center for Health Statistics showed that life expectancy for most American men was 75.3 years in 2008, down by one-tenth of a year from 2007. Women also saw a drop in the number of years they can expect to live, from 80.4 years to 80.3 years, the data show. Black men, on the other hand, bucked the trend and reached a record-high life expectancy of 70.2 years in 2008, up by 0.2 years compared to 2007. They were still the shortest-lived Americans, though, with life spans around 10 years less than white women, who have the highest life expectancy, followed by black women and white men. The pattern of white women enjoying the longest lives and black men the shortest has held true for nearly three decades, but life expectancy for all groups has generally increased over those 30 years.

Alzheimer's is now the sixth-leading cause of death. Overall, the United States now ranks 49th worldwide for life expectancy. In 1950, the U.S. ranked fifth.