U.S. Life Expectancy Increases Three Years from 1990 to 2010

According to a recent study in the Journal of the American Medical Association, U.S. life expectancy at birth increased from 75.2 years in 1990 to 78.2 years in 2010.  The study compares various health measures in the U.S. to the 33 other nations in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Some of the other findings include the following:

• In the U.S. in 2010, the ten diseases or injuries contributing to the largest number of years of life lost due to premature mortality (YLLs) were, in order: ischemic heart disease, lung cancer, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, road injury, self-harm, diabetes, cirrhosis, Alzheimer’s disease, and colorectal cancer (ischemic heart disease contributed to more YLLs than the next three conditions combined).
• From 1990 to 2010, healthy life expectancy at birth (HALE) in the U.S. increased from 65.8 to 68.1 years (HALE measures the number of years that a person at a given age can expect to live in good health, taking into account mortality and disability).
• Among the 34 OECD nations, U.S. life expectancy in 2010 ranked 27th, while its HALE ranked 26th.  Japan ranked first in both categories (82.6 and 73.0, respectively).