US Life Expectancy Reaches All-Time High

The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) reports that life expectancy for the U.S. population reached a record high of 76.9 years in 2000 as mortality declined for several leading causes of death. The report is based on preliminary figures compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The estimates are featured in the recently released CDC report, “Deaths: Preliminary Data for 2000,” an analysis of over 85% of the death certificates recorded in the United States for the year 2000.

The report shows that age-adjusted death rates continued to fall for heart disease and cancer, the two leading causes of death in the United States that account for more than one-half of all deaths in the country each year. Mortality from heart disease has declined steadily since 1950, while cancer mortality has been on the decline since 1990.

Age-adjusted death rates also fell for other leading causes of death, including homicide, suicide, accidents or “unintentional injuries,” stroke, diabetes, chronic lower respiratory diseases, and chronic liver disease and cirrhosis.

The report also shows that mortality decreased by 3.7 percent for HIV infection in 2000, the fifth straight year of decline. After increasing every year between 1987 and 1994 at an average of 16 percent annually, HIV mortality leveled off in 1995, dropped 29 percent in 1996, 48 percent in 1997, and 21 percent in 1998, before slowing to a 3.6 percent decline in 1999.

In addition, the preliminary infant mortality rate in the United States fell to its lowest level ever in 2000 – 6.9 infant deaths per 1,000 live births, down from a rate of 7.1 in 1999. “A healthy pregnancy is a major factor in reducing the risk of infant death,” said CDC Director Jeffrey Koplan. “Timely prenatal care and avoiding harmful behaviors like smoking are two examples of how pregnant mothers can protect the health of their infants.”

Meanwhile, mortality increased for certain leading causes of death, including Alzheimer’s disease, influenza and pneumonia, kidney disease, hypertension, septicemia, and pneumonitis due to solids and liquids, a condition that disproportionately affects the aging population and which emerged for the first time as one of the 15 leading causes of death.

“Information is often the most effective weapon we have against many of these problems, and having timely data gives us better information,” said Dr. Edward Sondik, director of CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics, which prepared the report.

Information on causes of death is recorded on death certificates by physicians, medical examiners and coroners, and reported to state vital statistics offices. Demographic information is provided by funeral directors, based on information from informants, who are usually family members.

“Americans on average are living longer than ever before, and much of this is due to the progress we’ve made in fighting diseases that account for a majority of deaths in the country,” HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson said. “But we can do even more by eating right, exercising regularly and taking other simple steps to promote good health and prevent serious illness and disease.”

Each year, Medical College of Wisconsin physicians care for more than 180,000 patients, representing nearly 500,000 patient visits. Medical College physicians practice at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin, Froedtert Memorial Lutheran Hospital, the Milwaukee VA Medical Center, and many other hospitals and clinics in Milwaukee and southeastern Wisconsin.