U.S. Life Expectancy Edges Closer to 80

By Todd Neale
HYATTSVILLE, 12 june 2008-- American life expectancy has hit a record high, reaching 78.1 tears for babies born in 2006.
This was 0.3 years longer than for those born in 2005, Melonie Heron, Ph.D., of the CDC, and colleagues reported in the June 11 issue of the agency's National Vital Statistics Reports.
At the same time, the CDC reported a significant drop in the age-adjusted U.S. death rate. It dropped 2.8% to 776.4 per 100,000 population in 2006 from 798.8 per 100,000 in 2005.
Overall, there were 2,425,900 deaths in 2006 -- 22,117 fewer than in 2005.
"This decrease is likely the result of more mild influenza activity during 2006 than that observed for 2005," the researchers said. The mortality rate for influenza and pneumonia had the most substantial drop, at 12.8%.
In addition, the infant mortality rate fell by 2.3%, from 6.87 per 1,000 live births in 2005 to 6.71 per 1,000 in 2006, although the difference did not reach statistical significance.
Overall, the top 15 causes of death remained the same in 2006, with all but one of the rankings also the same. Alzheimer's disease overtook diabetes as the sixth leading cause of death because of a more substantial drop in diabetes mortality.
Heart disease was the leading killer, with an age-adjusted death rate of 199.4 per 100,000. Rounding out the top five were cancer (180.8), cerebrovascular diseases (43.6), chronic lower respiratory diseases (41.6), and accidents (38.5).
Death rates dropped significantly (P<0.05)>