Suicides and overdoses lower U.S. life expectancy
402 views · Published 4 December 2018 · 2:02 · Indexed 11 October 2026
Channel: AP Archive · 2018 · News & Politics
(29 Nov 2018) VOICEOVER SCRIPT: AMERICANS' LIFE EXPECTANCY DROPPED LAST YEAR. RESEARCHERS ESTIMATE THAT BABIES BORN IN 2017 WILL LIVE AN AVERAGE OF 78 YEARS AND 7 MONTHS. THAT'S ONE MONTH LESS THAN FOR THOSE BORN IN 2016. ACCORDING TO THE CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION, THERE WERE MORE THAN 2.8 MILLION DEATHS IN THE U.S. LAST YEAR, NEARLY 70,000 MORE THAN THE PREVIOUS YEAR. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. John Rowe, Columbia University "If you look at the major causes of death there doesn't seem to be a common element. There's no silver bullet that if we fix this, life expectancy is going to increase." THE SURGE IN DRUG OVERDOSE DEATHS IS PARTLY TO BLAME. SUICIDES ALSO PLAYED A LARGE ROLE. THE U.S. SUICIDE RATE REACHED ITS HIGHEST LEVEL LAST YEAR IN AT LEAST FIVE DECADES. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. William Dietz, George Washington University "I think in many parts of the country there is a sense of hopelessness, that people are unemployed, they're not sure of their future, there is divisive politics, the income gap is widening. I really do believe that people are increasingly hopeless, and that that leads to drug use, it leads to potentially suicide." OTHER FACTORS DRIVING LIFE EXPECTANCY DOWN INCLUDE THE RISE LAST YEAR IN FLU AND PNEUMONIA-RELATED DEATHS. THE RESULTS MARK A CONTINUING DECLINE IN HOW LONG AMERICANS ARE EXPECTED TO LIVE. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. John Rowe, Columbia University "The shock for everyone of course in the United States is that we've become used to having life expectancy go up. And it's been going up for decades. So everyone is now concerned whether or not this is a new important trend, what its social and economic implications might be and what the underlying causes might be." OF THE 10 LEADING CAUSES OF DEATH, INCLUDING STROKE, DIABETES, AND ALZHEIMER'S, ONLY THE CANCER RATE FELL IN 2017. NED BARKER, ASSOCIATED PRESS Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/ You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/01b2482572e6ec2661f4d2ec0fa2fbc3
