Women lag in life-expectancy gains

Submitted by anthony on Sun, 2012-04-22 20:46

Article here. Excerpt:

'WASHINGTON - Women's life spans in the USA are improving at a slower pace than men's and are shorter in many U.S. counties than they were 20 years ago, according to a report released Thursday.

The trend is cause for alarm even though women are still expected to outlive men by four years, says the report by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, a health research center at the University of Washington. The study is based on mortality data by age, sex and county from 1989 to 2009.

Life expectancy for U.S. men improved by 4.6 years on average, but only by 2.7 years for women. Life spans county to county across the USA range on average from 66.1 to 81.6 years for men and 73.5 to 86 years for women.

"A gain in life expectancy should be equal among men and women," says Ali Mokdad, director of the research team. "This is a wake-up call for all of us. It's tragic that in a country as wealthy as the United States, and with all the medical expertise we have, that so many girls will live shorter lives than their mothers."'

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Comments

That men are dying earlier than women doesn't seem to be a cause for alarm, however.

Notice it's only a real problem if it affects women.

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Submitted by Matt on Sun, 2012-04-22 21:13

Now that women are starting to do jobs that men have done for years, their health is declining just like men. You can't have your cake and eat it too, then ask for ice cream.

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Submitted by usfspa2012 on Mon, 2012-04-23 01:49