By American Heart Association News January
30, 2020
Life expectancy increased in 2018 for the first time in
several years, and the rate of heart disease deaths saw a slight dip – though
it remains the nation's top killer, according to new federal reports.
Adults gained 1.2 months, or 36 days, in life expectancy
compared to 2017, according to data released Thursday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The modest increase is welcome news given it was the first uptick since 2014.
Life expectancy at birth increased from 78.6 years in 2017 to 78.7 in 2018,
largely because of decreases in deaths from heart disease, cancer,
unintentional injuries and chronic lower respiratory diseases.
Heart disease, the leading cause of death, killed 655,381
people in the United States in 2018. The rate was 163.6 deaths per 100,000
people, compared to 165 deaths in 2017.
The news should be celebrated, but there is plenty of room
for improvement, said Dr. Robert Harrington, chair of the department of
medicine at Stanford University in California and president of the American
Heart Association.
"Certainly, it's important news, and it's nice after
some years of decline in stats to see an improvement," Harrington said.
"We're cautiously pleased, but there's clearly an enormous amount of work
to do. All of the things AHA has grouped into an advocacy platform and science
base, we need to double down the efforts because there's a long way to
go."
Cancer took the No. 2 spot on the list of deadly threats,
with accidents and lower respiratory disease in third and fourth. Stroke is the
fifth-leading cause of death and killed 147,810 people in 2018. The rate of
stroke deaths remained about the same – 37.1 per 100,000 people in 2018
compared with 37.6 in 2017.
This week, the AHA said its most recent
2020 statistics showed more people are living longer but in
poorer health that is striking at a younger age. To address the problem, the
AHA issued a presidential
advisory in the journal Circulation outlining new
national and global 2030 Impact Goals to help increase the number of healthy
years.
The last decade has seen improvements in lifestyle behaviors
across U.S. residents that have helped many people stave off heart disease and
stroke, Harrington said. For example, people are paying more attention to diet,
managing their cholesterol and kicking the cigarette habit.
But many trends – particularly among children and young
adults – leave medical professionals concerned for future generations.
"This will be our north star for the next 10
years," Harrington said. "The focus will be on trying to improve
healthy living for the next decade."
Here are other highlights from the CDC's National Center for
Health Statistics reports:
– The 10 leading causes of death, in order, are heart
disease, cancer, unintentional injuries, chronic lower respiratory diseases,
stroke, Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, flu and pneumonia, kidney disease and
suicide.
– For males, life expectancy changed from 76.1 years in 2017
to 76.2 in 2018 – an increase of 0.1 year. For females, life expectancy
increased 0.1 year, from 81.1 years in 2017 to 81.2 in 2018.
– A total of 658 women died of maternal causes in the U.S.
in 2018, and their death rate per 100,000 live births was 17.4.
– In 2018, there were 67,367 drug overdose deaths – 4.1%
fewer deaths than the year before.
– The drug overdose death rate was lower in 2018 than 2017
for 15 jurisdictions: Alaska, Washington, D.C., Florida, Georgia, Indiana,
Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania,
West Virginia and Wisconsin.
– The drug overdose death rate was higher in 2018 than 2017
for five states: California, Delaware, Missouri, New Jersey and South Carolina.
If you have questions or comments about this story, please
email editor@heart.org.
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