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The increase in suicide rates and drug overdose has increased the number of deaths in the United States and reduced the life expectancy of Americans in 2017.
Data released on Thursday ( 29) by the CDC Disease Control and Prevention) show that 2.8 million deaths were recorded last year, nearly 70,000 more than the previous year.
This is the largest number of deaths in a year since the government counted for more than a century.
According to the CDC, in 2017, life expectancy at birth was 78.6 years – the previous year she was 78.7 years old. They are three and a half years younger than Canada on the other side of the border.
In the case of women, the 81.1 year expectancy remained stable from 2016 to 2017, but for men it fell from 76.2 to 76.1.
For decades, life expectancy in US was growing. Now the trend is the opposite: it dropped in 2015, remained stable in 2016 and fell again last year.
This is the longest period of life expectancy in decline since the late 1910s, when World War I and the worst influenza pandemic in modern history killed about one million Americans. In 1918, life expectancy was 39 years old.
The numbers partly reflect the increase and aging of the population. But it is deaths among young people, especially middle-aged people, that have the most impact on life expectancy, experts say.
"These disturbing statistics are a warning that we are losing Americans too early, too early." In a statement, CDC director Robert Redfield said in a statement.
Among the top 10 causes of death in the country, only the cancer death rate has decreased in 2017. There has been an increase in seven other Suicides, Stroke, Diabetes, Alzheimer's Disease, Influenza and Pneumonia, Chronic Respiratory Disease and Unintentional Injuries
The number of suicides last year – more than 47,000, or 14 per 100,000 – was the highest of the last 50 years, and in 2016 there were fewer than 45,000. [19659002] More than a third of deaths in the category of "unintentional injuries" were due to an accidental drug overdose.
At the heart of the worst epidemic of this problem in the history of the United States, which s & # 39; Is ag engraved over the past four years, the number of overdose deaths has continued to increase, exceeding 70,000 to 10% more than the previous year, an increase of less than 21%. from 2015 to 2016.
Growth was higher among opiate overdose deaths, especially synthetic products such as fentanyl, dozens of times more potent than heroin – an error of dose can be fatal. Some 28,000 people died, 45% more than in 2016.
However, the same parameter had doubled from 2015 to 2016, which shows that growth is already happening at a slower pace. Preliminary data for 2018 suggest that the crisis peaked earlier this year, but the CDC avoids disseminating this information.
For drug addiction expert Harshal Kirane, it is encouraging to see that the trajectory is changing. "But 70,000 deaths are still difficult to digest," he said.
The overdose epidemic does not affect the entire country. Central states, from Texas to South Dakota, are relatively safe.
The crisis is acute in the northeastern United States, where drug-related deaths account for more than a quarter of organ donations, which is comparable to road accidents.
He is also strong in the old industrial states (Ohio and Pennsylvania). ) and particularly in West Virginia, where there are 58 deaths per 100,000 population – the national average is 22
. Deaths due to heart disease, which kills most in the United States, stopped falling and remained stable.
In another category, that of deaths from influenza and pneumonia, this number increased by 6% from one year to the same year. other The influenza season from 2017 to 2018 was one of the worst of more than a decade and some of the deaths recorded early in the fall / winter were recorded at this count.
CDC officials have not speculated on what lies behind these events. life expectancy, but experts like William Dietz, who works in preventive medicine at George Washington University, believe that today the lack of hope is due to financial difficulties and a higher rate of income inequality. .
"I really believe that people have less and less hope and that this leads to an increase in drug use and perhaps a risk of suicide," he said.
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