The Burrill Report


Improvements in lifespans in the United States are growing at a slower pace than in other developed nations, according to a new report from the National Research Council that blames the country’s history of heavy smoking as the reason why.

Over the last 25 years, life expectancy at age 50 in the United States has been rising, but at a slower pace than in many other high-income countries, such as Japan and Australia. Yet the United States spends more on healthcare than any other nation.

Smoking appears to be responsible for a good deal of the differences in life expectancy, especially for women, the report says. Three to five decades ago, smoking was much more widespread in the United States than in Europe or Japan, and the health consequences are still playing out in today’s mortality rates. The habit also has significantly reduced life expectancy in Denmark and the Netherlands, two other countries with lower life expectancy trends than comparable high-income countries.

The good news is that there appears to be a lag of two to three decades between smoking and its peak effects on mortality. On that basis, life expectancy for men in America is likely to improve relatively rapidly in coming decades because of reductions in smoking in the last 20 years, the report says. However, declines in mortality for American women are likely to remain slow for the next decade because smoking for women peaked later than for men.

Smoking is not the only culprit behind the lagging U.S. life expectancy rates. Obesity also appears to carry some blame. In fact, the researchers say obesity may be responsible for a fifth to a third of the shortfall in longevity in the United States compared to other nations, according to the report. Should that trend continue, it may offset the longevity improvements expected from reductions in smoking. However, recent data suggest that the prevalence of obesity in the United States has leveled off, and some studies indicate that the mortality risk associated with obesity has declined.


January 27, 2011
http://www.burrillreport.com/article-smoking_and_overeating_are_bad_for_you%e2%80%94later.html