As the COVID pandemic faded in 2022, U.S. life expectancy rose by more than a year. But the virus and drug overdoses spurred by fentanyl still took nearly 300,000 lives.
A CDC analysis of 2022 data finds that U.S. life expectancy is improving after being knocked backwards during the COVID emergency. But it's still lower than it was pre-pandemic.
Poor diet, lack of exercise, stress and trauma, all drive America's declining life expectancy and high rates of chronic disease. So how can we live better in America? NPR looks for answers.
As U.S. life expectancy falls, experts say incarceration has serious health impacts. The U.S. has one of the highest rates of people in prison or jail in the developed world.
A decade after a landmark report on Americans' shorter lives, the problem has only gotten worse. Unlike other wealthy nations, U.S. life expectancy has not bounced back from the pandemic.
Researchers used data from more than 150 countries to connect gender equality and life expectancy. They hope their findings can help policymakers set priorities in public health and other areas.
During the time that deaths from addiction and suicide among white Americans rose by about 9%, deaths among Native Americans shot up by about 30%, a new study shows.
Americans' life expectancy dropped for the second year in a row and is the biggest drop since the 1920s. COVID-19 is driving the downward trend, according to CDC data.
The CDC says COVID-19 was the largest factor, along with drug overdoses, homicides, diabetes and chronic liver disease. The decline was even greater for Hispanic men.
Thursday on Political Rewind: Speaker of the House David Ralston has unveiled a sweeping $75 million proposal to confront escalating crime, especially in metro Atlanta. The plan includes bonuses for local law enforcement officers and an increase in funding for law enforcement agencies — as well as for an expansion of mental health services. Democratic House members said they’ll work with Ralston on his plan even as they recognize it’s part of a GOP effort to use crime-fighting as a wedge issue in the 2022 election cycle.
Meanwhile, the guessing game over the possibility of a big-name Republican emerging to challenge U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock continues this week, and the effect of COVID on U.S. life expectancy is discussed.
The group that suffered the largest drop in life expectancy was Black males — a decline of three years. Hispanic males also saw a large decrease, with a decline of 2.4 years.
The deaths caused by the pandemic appear to be shortening overall life expectancy in the U.S. by 1.13 years, which would be the largest single decline in at least 40 years.
The life expectancy of Americans is shorter for the second consecutive year, dropping from 78.7 to 78.6 years, according to the latest report by the...
