US life expectancy fall extends worst trend in 100 years

The fall in the average life expectancy for Americans continues the longest sustained decline in 100 years as preventable causes of early death such as opioid abuse, suicides and diseases including diabetes or heart issues continue to grow.

Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released on Thursday showed the US had lost three-tenths of a year in life expectancy since 2014.

“Life expectancy gives us a snapshot of the nation’s overall health and these sobering statistics are a wake-up call that we are losing too many Americans, too early and too often, to conditions that are preventable,” said Dr. Robert Redfield, CDC director.

In the most-recent ranking by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development of global life expectancy the U.S. ranks 29th.

Women still outlive men with female life expectancy for both 2016 and 2017 being 81.1 years, while male life expectancy dropped from 76.2 years in 2016 to 76.1 in 2017.