In a Half-Century Life Expectancy for Americans Climbs Eight Years

ATLANTA, Sept. 13 -- In the past 50 years, life expectancy has risen to the point that many American born in 2005 can expect to live to the age of about 78, which is eight years longer than for those born in 1955 when Eisenhower was president.
According to the latest report form the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics the average live expectancy for a white American born in 2005 is 78.3 years and for black American born in 2005 average live expectancy is 73.2 years.
But at the same time, preliminary figures also indicate an increase in the U.S. infant mortality rate from 6.79 per 1,000 live births in 2004 to 6.89 in 2005. The CDC said, however, that the increase was not statistically significant.
Females born in 2005 can expect to live longer than men-80.8 years for white women and 76.5 years for black women, versus 75.7 for white men and 69.6 for black men.
Heart disease was again the number one cause of death, accounting for a total of 649,399 deaths in 2005 or a death rate of 219.1 deaths per 100,000 population, which was a decline of 3.1% from 2004.
Cancer killed 559,300 Americans for a death rate of 188.7 per 100,000 in 2005, for a decline of 1.1% from 2004. Stroke, the third leading cause of death, claimed 143,497 Americans, a decrease of 6.8% from 2004 to 2005.
Other leading causes of death were chronic lower respiratory disease, accidents, diabetes, Alzheimer's, influenza and pneumonia, kidney disease, and-as the 10th leading cause of death-septicemia.
For infants, congenital malformations, or birth defects, was the leading cause of infant mortality in 2005, followed by disorders related to preterm birth and low birth weight. Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) was the third leading cause of infant death in the United States.