U.S. life expectancy drops sharply, the second consecutive decline
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Re: U.S. life expectancy drops sharply, the second consecutive decline
#2> The Covid-19 pandemic is the primary cause of the decline. However, increases in the number of people dying from overdoses and accidents is also a significant factor.
True statement but it should be the other way around. Deaths by overdoses are much more impactful in terms of life expectancy decline, since they mostly kill younger people.
Re: U.S. life expectancy drops sharply, the second consecutive decline
#3Obesity.
Covid literally attacks obese people. And obese people also are at huge risk. I'm overweight and I was literally frightened during covid.
Now I lift weights every day and work on my diet very hard.
But we are literally ignoring the elephant (literally) in the room.
Re: U.S. life expectancy drops sharply, the second consecutive decline
#4From the article, “The Covid-19 pandemic is the primary cause of the decline.”
And it is going to decline further. Covid affects multiple organ systems; the acute phase of the infection, it is safe to say at this point, is not the primary cause of concern.
Covid-19 infection increases the chances of a stroke 4x and of heart failure more than 10x, among other disorders, within 12 months of infection. [1] A chief scientist at the WHO recently said [2], “We need to prepare for large increases in cardiovascular, neurological & mental health disorders in countries affected by the #SARSCoV2 #pandemic.”
[1]: https://twitter.com/erictopol/status/1564612325356670978
[2]: https://twitter.com/doctorsoumya/status/1564649057599078401
Re: U.S. life expectancy drops sharply, the second consecutive decline
#5Less than 3 years longer than Bangladesh.
Re: U.S. life expectancy drops sharply, the second consecutive decline
#6> The Covid-19 pandemic is the primary cause of the decline. However, increases in the number of people dying from overdoses and accidents is also a significant factor. True statement but it should be the other way around. Deaths by overdoses are much more impactful in terms of life expectancy decline, since they mostly kill younger people.
Careful there; that could lead to a conversation about the cost/benefits of how lockdowns were implemented.
Then we'd have to look at how younger generations were sacrificed for the older.
Then we might have to talk about how that happens in many areas, from wealth distribution to climate change policy, from environmental policy to corporate accountability. Not to mention the wars.
Can't be letting that type of discussion into the zeitgeist. Wealthy people might get upset.
Re: U.S. life expectancy drops sharply, the second consecutive decline
#7Obesity. Covid literally attacks obese people. And obese people also are at huge risk. I'm overweight and I was literally frightened during covid. Now I lift weights every day and work on my diet very hard. But we are literally ignoring the elephant (literally) in the room.
The big wake up call for me was a few years earlier. I had just hit 130Kg (285+ pounds) and I had just had enough of it all! By the time I had COVID earlier this year I was down to around 90Kg (198 pounds) - I get the feeling that helped out immensely compared with how I used to be. Vaccines also did their part combined with the lessening impacts of the various variants.
The other thing that got brought to my attention was an off handed comment about various health issues that are impacting populations. Things like declining fertility and increasing health issues almost always correlate more with obesity rather than the environmental factors. Yes, correlation is not causation but it does seem at fairly plausible.
For example could things like micro plastics be doing these things? Yes. But one would expect these to be near global - yet the impacts are felt mostly in obese nations. It could potentially be a threat multiplier however.
Re: U.S. life expectancy drops sharply, the second consecutive decline
#8> The Covid-19 pandemic is the primary cause of the decline. However, increases in the number of people dying from overdoses and accidents is also a significant factor. True statement but it should be the other way around. Deaths by overdoses are much more impactful in terms of life expectancy decline, since they mostly kill younger people.
Good point, one could measure (est.) years lost rather than lives lost as a way to quantify that.
Re: U.S. life expectancy drops sharply, the second consecutive decline
#9> The Covid-19 pandemic is the primary cause of the decline. However, increases in the number of people dying from overdoses and accidents is also a significant factor. True statement but it should be the other way around. Deaths by overdoses are much more impactful in terms of life expectancy decline, since they mostly kill younger people.
> True statement but it should be the other way around. Deaths by overdoses are much more impactful in terms of life expectancy decline, since they mostly kill younger people.
This, of course, actually depends on the numbers from both (both ages and volumes).
The graph has a very clear inflection point from 2019 to 2020, overdoses were increasing for quite a while before that, so do you actually have numbers suggesting that the 2020 and 2021 impact of overdoses and accidents is greater than the completely-new-to-those-years factor?
Re: U.S. life expectancy drops sharply, the second consecutive decline
#10I make a decent salary and so does my wife. We have two kids and we still don’t own a home. People I know who don’t work in tech are really struggling. There are multiple US cities without clean drinking water. It seems like the US is mostly in constant decline with a few elite city/states able to avoid the consequences.
As a result, people eat junk food, go to the doctor less, have more stress, drive everywhere, no mandatory sick leave or vacation in most states. We’re killing ourselves. It’s plainly obvious when you travel abroad and see how well other people live in their countries for a fraction of the costs and stress.
Diamonds are formed under pressure but bread dough rises when it rests… our society needs more time to make healthy food, exercise, and take a vacation…