Middle Age Can Be Hazardous to Your Health

By STEVE FINDLAY Despite the many flaws in our healthcare system, we could always point to data showing that over the last few decades we were living longer and healthier lives—even if not quite as long and healthy as our contemporaries in many European and some Asian countries. It now appears that’s no longer true for one segment of the U.S. population. I’m talking, of course, about the surprising findings released last week that the death rate among non-Hispanic white men and women ages 45 to 54 increased from 1999 to 2013 after decreasing steadily for 20 years, as it did for other age cohorts and ethnic groups. The rise was small in absolute terms—half a percent a year—but it was a relatively sharpreversal in direction from the average 2% a year decline in death rate from 1978 to 1998.  Moreover, this population experienced an increase in non-fatal diseases and conditions, too (called morbidity). For both death rates and morbidity, the reversal occurred in all income and education brackets in the 45-54 age cohort, but it was most pronounced among those with lower incomes and less than a college education. The researchers found that no other developed country experienced a similar reversal.  And blacks, Hispanics, and those aged 65 and above in the U.S continued to see death rates fall in the period examined. The bottom line in terms of overall impact: If the death rate for white 45−54 year olds had continued to decline at its previous (2%) rate, half a mil...
Source: The Health Care Blog - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: THCB Steven Findlay Source Type: blogs