Advances in Medicine and Tech cancelled out by increases in Obesity and Drug Use.

[diddle]

Do you want the good or bad news first? According to a new study by the National Bureau of Economic Research, Americans have been leading longer and healthier lives in the past 50 years, thanks to a cut down on smoking, drinking, and dangerous driving. But to nullify those positive trends, they are also getting increasingly obese, overdosing on drugs, and getting shot. Between 1960 to 2010, Americans gained 1.82 years of life expectancy for good health, but at the same time, obesity rates and poisonous substance deaths cut it by 1.77 years. - DB Summary.

Americans are smoking less, driving safer and have cut back on heavy boozing, leading to healthier and longer lives over the past half-century.

Unfortunately, Americans also are getting fatter, overdosing on drugs and getting shot more frequently, factors which have all but wiped out those positive trends, according to a paper by Susan Stewart, a researcher at the National Bureau of Economic Research, and David Cutler, an economics professor at Harvard University.

The two examine the contribution of behavioral change to public health from 1960 to 2010. “While health is often thought of in terms of diagnosed medical conditions, it is modifiable behavioral risk factors such as obesity and smoking that account for the largest portion of deaths each year,” Stewart and Cutler write.

Smoking and automobile-related deaths showed the biggest improvements in the research.

http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2014/...ng-safer-cars/

The good news is that average life expectancy still has increased by 0.05 years!

What do you guys think about this? Personally I'd rather live to be 60 - 70 while eating whatever I want, drinking as much as I want, and doing whatever drugs I want rather than live a boring healthy life to 90.

[Zethras]

Do you want the good or bad news first? According to a new study by the National Bureau of Economic Research, Americans have been leading longer and healthier lives in the past 50 years, thanks to a cut down on smoking, drinking, and dangerous driving. But to nullify those positive trends, they are also getting increasingly obese, overdosing on drugs, and getting shot. Between 1960 to 2010, Americans gained 1.82 years of life expectancy for good health, but at the same time, obesity rates and poisonous substance deaths cut it by 1.77 years. - DB Summary.

Americans are smoking less, driving safer and have cut back on heavy boozing, leading to healthier and longer lives over the past half-century.

Unfortunately, Americans also are getting fatter, overdosing on drugs and getting shot more frequently, factors which have all but wiped out those positive trends, according to a paper by Susan Stewart, a researcher at the National Bureau of Economic Research, and David Cutler, an economics professor at Harvard University.

The two examine the contribution of behavioral change to public health from 1960 to 2010. “While health is often thought of in terms of diagnosed medical conditions, it is modifiable behavioral risk factors such as obesity and smoking that account for the largest portion of deaths each year,” Stewart and Cutler write.

Smoking and automobile-related deaths showed the biggest improvements in the research.

http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2014/...ng-safer-cars/

The good news is that average life expectancy still has increased by 0.05 years!

What do you guys think about this? Personally I'd rather live to be 60 - 70 while eating whatever I want, drinking as much as I want, and doing whatever drugs I want rather than live a boring healthy life to 90.

The issue with that logic, is that 60-70 is the maximum optimism outlook while doing the aforementioned activities, it'll most likely be less than that, whereas not doing those things will, most likely, guarantee a longer life, and for me, I love the idea of living a long, long time.

[apepi]

So instead of going for cigarettes people are going to food and other drugs?

[diddle]

The issue with that logic, is that 60-70 is the maximum optimism outlook while doing the aforementioned activities, it'll most likely be less than that, whereas not doing those things will, most likely, guarantee a longer life, and for me, I love the idea of living a long, long time.

Well I'm already about 50 and have been doing those things all muh life, my health has been holding up well so a decade more doesn't seem like a longshot.

[Zethras]

Well I'm already about 50 and have been doing those things all muh life, my health has been holding up well so a decade more doesn't seem like a longshot.

Well, as I said, most likely, there are of course exceptions, but who knows, you could develop lung cancer inside of 6 months and die, but you could also not.

[diddle]

Well, as I said, most likely, there are of course exceptions, but who knows, you could develop lung cancer inside of 6 months and die, but you could also not.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/0...n_3852209.html

Although it just includes smoking, the reduction in average life span is still only about 4 years for older people.

[Nellise]

Of the 1.77 reduction from obesity, drugs and firearms, 1.53 is from obesity alone. 0.21 is from poisoning which includes drug overdoses, but they said much of that is from prescription opioids which probably could be lessened by doctors not prescribing them so much: "The vast bulk of this is overdose of drugs, particularly prescription opioid medications, which has more than quadrupled since 1999".

As long as you're not doing heroin or things like it, drugs are ok I think.

[Nakura Chambers]

Unfortunately, Americans also are getting fatter, overdosing on drugs and getting shot more frequently

That is factually incorrect. Every study shoes that firearm violence has drastically gone down over the past several decades.

[Denkou]

It could be worse. We could be living in medieval times and not live a day past 30. What is the life expectancy of men in the U.S.? 70? If I get to live to 70 while still drinking, doing drugs, and eating whatever I want (all in moderation, of course), I'll be happy with that.

[Simmias]

what a load of shit. A lot of people live to 80+ doing whatever the fuck they want to do with their bodies. It all just comes down to luck.

[Spiffums]

So living in the inner city is bad for your health? The whole getting shot part.

[Othraerir]

what a load of shit. A lot of people live to 80+ doing whatever the fuck they want to do with their bodies. It all just comes down to luck.

and genetics