Todays Senior Citizen Turning Age 65 Can Now Expect
to Live to Almost 84, CDC Report Says
Life expectancy reaches all-time high as death
rates reach all-time lows, new report shows
Aug. 20, 2009 New life expectancy tables using
data through 2007 were released yesterday by the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, which show the average 65-year-old senior
citizen can expect to live to almost 84. And, another new high, shows
new borns in the U.S. can expect to live to about 78. Part of the reason
for this is the continued drop in the death rate.
The age-adjusted death rate dropped to 760.3 deaths
per 100,000 population, while life expectancy reached 77.9, both
records, according to the latest mortality statistics from the CDC.
The report, Deaths: Preliminary Data for 2007,
was issued yesterday by CDCs National Center for Health Statistics. The
data are based on nearly 90 percent of death certificates in the United
States.
The 2007 increase in life expectancy up from 77.7
in 2006 -- represents a continuation of a trend. Over a decade, life
expectancy has increased 1.4 years from 76.5 years in 1997 to 77.9 in
2007.
Other findings:
● Record high life expectancy was recorded for
both males and females (75.3 years and 80.4 years, respectively). While
the gap between male and female life expectancy has narrowed since the
peak gap of 7.8 years in 1979, the 5.1 year difference in 2007 is the
same as in 2006.
● For the first time, life expectancy for
black males reached 70 years.
● The U.S. mortality rate fell for the eighth
straight year to an all-time low of 760.3 deaths per 100,000 population
in 2007 -- 2.1 percent lower than the 2006 rate of 776.5. The 2007
mortality rate is half of what it was 60 years ago (1532 per 100,000 in
1947.)
● The preliminary number of deaths in the
United States in 2007 was 2,423,995, a 2,269 decrease from the 2006
total.
● Heart disease and cancer, the two leading
causes of death, accounted for nearly half (48.5 percent) of all deaths
in 2007.
● Between 2006 and 2007, mortality rates
declined significantly for eight of the 15 leading causes of death.
Declines were observed for influenza and pneumonia (8.4 percent),
homicide (6.5 percent), accidents (5 percent), heart disease (4.7
percent), stroke (4.6 percent), diabetes (3.9 percent), hypertension
(2.7 percent), and cancer (1.8 percent).
● The death rate for the fourth leading cause
of death, chronic lower respiratory diseases, increased by 1.7 percent.
Preliminary death rates also increased for Parkinsons disease, chronic
liver disease and cirrhosis, and Alzheimers, but these gains are not
statistically significant.
● There were an estimated 11,061 deaths from
HIV/AIDS in 2007, and mortality rates from the disease declined 10
percent from 2006, the biggest one-year decline since 1998. HIV remains
the sixth leading cause of death among 25-44 year-olds.
● The preliminary infant mortality rate for
2007 was 6.77 infant deaths per 1,000 live births, a 1.2 percent
increase from the 2006 rate of 6.69, though not considered statistically
significant. Birth defects were the leading cause of infant death in
2007, followed by disorders related to preterm birth and low birthweight.
Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) was the third leading cause of
infant death in the United States.
Aug. 20, 2009 New life expectancy tables using
data through 2007 were released yesterday by the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, which show the average 65-year-old senior
citizen can expect to live to almost 84. And, another new high, shows
new borns in the U.S. can expect to live to about 78. Part of the reason
for this is the continued drop in the death rate.
