Historically, life expectancy has tended towards increase — particularly given the industrial, medical and technological advancements that humanity has made in the past few decades and centuries.
However, this trend has suffered a strange setback in America — where life expectancy dropped for the first time since 1993, in the midst of the AIDS epidemic.
Deaths of almost all kinds increased in 2015, including categories like heart disease and stroke which have been declining for years. Deaths were also up from Alzheimer’s disease, respiratory disease, kidney disease and diabetes. More Americans also died from unintentional injuries and suicide, according to NPR.
Overall, the change was marginal — an overall drop in life expectancy from 78.9 to 78.8, with a wider drop for men (from 76.5 to 76.3).
While these figures don’t necessarily make any prognostications about life expectancy in the rest of the developed world, it is worth noting that some theories as to why life expectancy is dropping would also apply in Europe — such as the idea that doctors have reached a limit of what they can do to tackle heart disease, stroke and Alzheimer’s. Increases in suicide and drug overdoses also imply an unfavourable relationship between today’s economic climate and death.
The most recent life expectancy stats released by Eurostat came out in 2014, and revealed life expectancy in Ireland to be 80.9 overall, slightly higher for women than men. Irish men are expected to live 78.3 years and women are expected to live to 82.7 years.
Historically, this number has continued to rise — the significance of what’s happening in America is that this is an unusual reversal of that trend.
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