USA - Labor Force: life expectancy continues downward spiral, study shows - by Jorge L. Ortiz

The engine that powers the world’s most potent economy is dying at a worrisome pace, a “distinctly American phenomenon’’ with no easily discernible cause or simple solution.

Those are some of the conclusions from a comprehensive new study by researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University showing that mortality rates for U.S. adults ages 25-64 continue to increase, driving down the general population’s life expectancy for at least three consecutive years.

The report, “Life Expectancy and Mortality Rates in the United States, 1959-2017,’’ was published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The study paints a bleak picture of a workforce plagued by drug overdoses, suicides and organ-system diseases while grappling with economic stresses.

“This looks like an excellent paper – just what we needed to help unravel the overall decline in life expectancy in the U.S.,’’ said Eileen Crimmins, an associate dean at the University of Southern California who’s an expert on the link between health and socioeconomic factors.

Read more at: US life expectancy continues downward spiral, study shows

Canada: 1 in 2 Canadians will get cancer: reports Canadian Cancer Society

Almost one in every two Canadians is expected to be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime, and one in four Canadians will die from the disease, a new report by the Canadian Cancer Society predicts.

In 2017, an estimated 206,200 Canadians will be diagnosed with some form of cancer and an estimated 80,800 will succumb to their malignancy — making cancer the leading cause of death in Canada, the charitable organization said Tuesday in its annual cancer statistics report.

"Currently, every year we're seeing an increase in the number of cancer cases in Canada," said the society's epidemiologist, Leah Smith. "So between now and 2030, for example, we expect to continue to see a dramatic increase in the number of cancers diagnosed in Canada.

"That is a reflection of the growing and aging population," she said. "About 90 per cent of all the cancers that we expect to be diagnosed in 2017 will be among Canadians 50 years of age and older."
About 45 per cent of those cases will occur in people age 70 and older, said Smith, noting that as more people move into old age, the number of cancer cases will rise.

Despite the projection that cancer will cause the deaths of one in four Canadians, cancer mortality rates have been declining since their peak in 1988. Over the past three decades, deaths due to cancer have fallen by more than 30 per cent among men and by about 17 per cent among women.

"Declines in death rates have been largely driven by decreases in lung cancer incidence and mortality, so tobacco control in general has had a big impact on our death rates," Smith said, especially among men, who historically had higher smoking rates than their female counterparts.

Increased rates of screening for breast cancer and improved treatments have also bolstered survival among women.

Read more: 1 in 2 Canadians will get cancer: Cancer Society - Health - CBC News

Life expectancy: Americans Face Shorter Life Span, Life Expectancy Suggests in NIH Study - Jim Toedtman

The doctor's news is not good. Americans are in poorer health and are dying sooner than the rest of the industrialized world. Call it the "mortality gap."

The facts are disquieting. A 2011 study of 17 industrialized countries — 13 in Western Europe, plus the U.S., Australia, Japan and Canada — found that American men, whose life expectancy is 75.6 years, ranked last, and U.S. women, at 80.7 years, ranked 16th. Worse, this gap has been widening for the past three decades.

Wonder why this is happening? So did the National Institutes of Health, which ordered a broad study of U.S. deaths involving drugs and alcohol, obesity and diabetes, lung disease, heart disease, infant mortality, injuries and homicides, and HIV and AIDS. Researchers found what they called "a pervasive pattern of shorter lives and poor health" crossing all socioeconomic lines.

Although the United States spends nearly twice as much on health care as other countries, Americans eat too much, rely on cars too much and get medical care that is often inaccessible and unaffordable. More specifically, the study cited the lack of access to primary care physicians and Americans' relatively unhealthy behaviors. While Americans drink and smoke less than their peers, they eat more calories per person, use seat belts less, are more prone to gun violence and have higher rates of drug abuse. Demographic trends and next year's expansion of medical coverage will put even more pressure on the shorthanded U.S. medical workforce. Our dependence on cars gets special attention, too, for helping create neighborhoods that discourage walking and contribute to obesity.

The study concludes, "The tragedy is not that the United States is losing a contest with other countries, but that Americans are dying and suffering from illness and injury at rates that are demonstrably unnecessary. Superior health outcomes in other nations show that Americans also can enjoy better health."


Note EU-Digest: bottom line - watch those calories !

Read more: Americans Face Shorter Life Span, Life Expectancy Suggests NIH Study - AARP