Life expectancy for Americans dropped for the first time in more than two dec

[hashtag46]

I just read this article which perplexed me.
If what they're saying is true: I wonder why that is.




Heroin-related overdose deaths quadrupled from 2010-15 - US govt
https://www.rt.com/usa/378526-heroin-death-overdose-quadruple/

"Heroin-related deaths in the US skyrocketed in the span of five years, amounting to a quarter of all overdose deaths by 2015, according to new federal data, presenting another grim snapshot of America's opioid epidemic.

Last month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that the five leading causes of death in the US – cancer, chronic lower respiratory disease, heart disease, stroke and unintentional injuries, including overdoses – more acutely impact rural areas of the US as opposed to urban communities.

Life expectancy for Americans dropped in 2015 for the first time in more than two decades, with mortality rates on the rise for the 10 leading causes of nationwide deaths."

 

[Parminderjeet]

How very perplexing.

 

[hashtag46]

Contrary to what you might think, this isn't a troll thread Rob.

Because according to what I read and what my friends& family told me, Obamacare improved access to healthcare for most americans. The disastruous financial aspect is a different problem.
So I can't explain to myself these statistics, unless they reflect the cumulative effect of the pre- Obamacare system.

The statistics re heroin deaths are the ones that intrigued me the most.
- Are they due to even more poor practices? (Which wouldn't make sense, because with the availability of the internet, people are more educated about the risks and how to avoid them)
- or due to increased availability on the drug market of heroin overall
or due to the fact that the drug market has been invaded by poor quality, spiked heroin?
- or to be expected, since once hooked opioid dependence often becomes a lifelong problem, and each year brings new nombers of addicts to the ever increaing poll

 

[hashtag46]

My thread wasn't meant as a shot or critique of the american health system, since quality-wise it is by far one of the best in the world.

And I suspect that other european countries probably face similar problems, particularly regarding drug use. They're just less transparent about or not so good at keeping statistics.

But since the audience in this forum is overwhelmingly american, it's only natural for one to gear their posts in this direction.

 

[Wat_Tyler]

Death cures a lot of things - smoking, heroin addiction, drunkeness, etc.


I, too, wonder if it's better junk or if it's cut with something poisonous/toxic.


Meanwhile, I know a couple of people who are battling with chronic pain and are really struggling to get some medicine to take the edge off. One is an old woman who gets migraine headaches. They can't get them dealt with but don't want to give her opiates.


She's old - what's gonna happen, ffs? Let her days be less painful.

 

[BotanyBoy]

Good job M'ericuh!!

Eat another Big Mac and park it in front of the tube with a 2L of CocaCola.

 

[Wrong Element]

I went over this a few months ago when some dumbass here suggested this was all because of Obama:

Drug overdoses are way up.

It's mostly young people (or at least non-old people) who OD.

That part about how life expectancy last dropped in the early 1990s -- what was happening back then? The AIDS epidemic was at its deadliest.



For people who are capable of a perspective other than a political one, these things are all very easy to explain.

 

[Ms_Ann]

Chicago is fucking the average.

 

[Rightguide]

Chicago is fucking the average.

That and the 19th Century health standard pouring over the Southern border.

 

[Ms_Ann]

That and the 19th Century health standard pouring over the Southern border.

On the whole, Americans aren't taking very good care of themselves- still suckling from the WWII Gen. teat.

 

[Rightguide]

On the whole, Americans aren't taking very good care of themselves- still suckling from the WWII Gen. teat.

It's a basic fact that Americans as a whole are out of shape and living a life of leisure compared to previous generations. The fact is you couldn't find enough fit men in America to flesh out a WWII size army. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs has declared it a national security issue.

 

[BotanyBoy]

On the whole, Americans aren't taking very good care of themselves- still suckling from the WWII Gen. teat.

Keep that fantasy rolling.

It's a basic fact that Americans as a whole are out of shape and living a life of leisure compared to previous generations. The fact is you couldn't find enough fit men in America to flesh out a WWII size army. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs has declared it a national security issue.

Nothing an appropriate amount of PT can't fix. Better drink some water.....

http://popularmilitary.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/1915434-e1461681781712.jpg

 

[hashtag46]

Actually, I just came across this article, which also outlines some of the likely causes for this trend.

But how naughty of RT to single out the US, when it looks like other countries are facing similar problems. And my understanding is that Russia and other former Soviet block countries are struggling too with addiction problems among the young.



Drug-related deaths hit record levels in England and Wales
Experts call for change to treatment as fatalities rise despite number of people taking illegal drugs reaching historical low.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/sep/09/drug-related-deaths-hit-record-levels-england-wales

"Overall, the death rate from drug misuse in England and Wales [in 2015] was the highest ever recorded.

According to the ONS, heroin-related poisonings have more than doubled from 579 deaths in 2012 to 1,201 in 2015. Deaths from cocaine rose for the fourth year in a row and have increased from 112 in 2011 to 320 in 2015. Amphetamine-related deaths, including MDMA poisonings, have risen from 56 in 2010 to 157 in 2015.

Vanessa Fearn, a researcher at the ONS, said the rise in deaths could be partly attributed to
a rise in the purity of heroin, following a shortage of the drug that affected global exports in 2011.

“Age is also a factor in the record levels of drug deaths as heroin users are getting older and they often have conditions such as lung disease and hepatitis that make them particularly vulnerable,” she said.

Drug addiction services have been a victim of austerity cuts, with responsibility devolved in 2013 from the NHS to local authorities, which are not legally mandated to provide any at all. The LGA said a 9% cut to local authority health budgets over the next four years could seriously undermine drug treatment."

 

[hashtag46]

Oopsie!

FROM CDC:
https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/data/heroin.html

Heroin-related overdose deaths have more than quadrupled since 2010.
Heroin use has increased [by 50%] among most demographic groups. The annual average rate of heroin use for the combined years 2002 to 2004 and 2011 to 2013. Percent Change:50%.

Risk Factors
Past misuse of prescription opioids is the strongest risk factor for starting heroin use.

Among new heroin users, approximately three out of four report having abused prescription opioids prior to using heroin.
Increased availability, relatively low price (compared to prescription opioids), and high purity of heroin in the U.S. also have been identified as possible factors in the rising rate of heroin use.

According to data from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the amounts of heroin confiscated each year at the southwest border of the United States were approximately ≤500 kg during 2000–2008. This amount quadrupled to 2,196 kg in 2013."

 

[hashtag46]

I went over this a few months ago when some dumbass here suggested this was all because of Obama:

Drug overdoses are way up.

It's mostly young people (or at least non-old people) who OD.

That part about how life expectancy last dropped in the early 1990s -- what was happening back then? The AIDS epidemic was at its deadliest.

For people who are capable of a perspective other than a political one, these things are all very easy to explain.

I think you might be right.
If one compares the reports about the US and the UK, it looks like it's more likely that

- austerity policies and government cuts are among several of the causes in the UK and other European countries.

- Whereas in the US the reasons for such a rise have a lot less to do with the quality of Healthcare (well, except for the overprescribing of opiates) and more to do with an increase in drugs availability and drug use.

 

[OldJourno]

Saw a report on this yesterday when a guy was flogging his book on some TV show.
What stuck with me was his statement that the number of early deaths due to unhealthy behavior (drugs, alcohol) were starkly similar to what is going on in Russia.
Now that is scary.

 

[KingOrfeo]

Why is anyone perplexed? This has been in the news for a couple of years now. The rural American white working class is dying of despair, mainly through drinking, drugging and suicide. It's not that they're all that desperate economically -- the same thing is not happening to inner-city residents at least as desperate -- it's that they're losing their hope and expectations. There was a time in America when a white man, at least, who had no higher education or specialized skills but was willing and able to work hard, could always earn a comfortable living, but that state of affairs has been in decline since the 1970s. Family farming has lost ground to agribiz, mom-and-pop stores have lost ground to chains and big boxes, factory jobs have lost ground to offshoring and, far more importantly, to automation. And if you grew up expecting better things, who wants to face a future where Wal-mart greeter is the best you can hope for?

 

[someoneyouknow]

Russia is in an even worst state due to its chronic alcoholism, drug use and horrors! women putting off or not having babies at all:

http://euromaidanpress.com/2017/04/30/10-decline-in-number-of-births-in-russia-frightens-economists-euromaidan-press/

 

[Rightguide]

Massive influx of Third Worlders tipping the scales.

 

[OldJourno]

Keep that fantasy rolling.




Nothing an appropriate amount of PT can't fix. Better drink some water.....

http://popularmilitary.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/1915434-e1461681781712.jpg

That guy on the left ... I'll bet his penmanship is even worse than mine.

 

[4est_4est_Gump]

It's a trailing indicator.




One of the underlying causes is the war on drugs. It causes too great a variety of product in which the user never gets product with consistent know dosage, so it is easy to make dosing mistakes. If we ended the war on drugs we would save billions and could easily spend millions on education and treatment while saving lives.




But if the economy picks up, we add jobs, then less people will feel hopeless and alienated from their culture and society...

 

[KingOrfeo]

It's a basic fact that Americans as a whole are out of shape and living a life of leisure compared to previous generations.

There are fewer jobs requiring physical effort now, but, more importantly, pre-WWII most Americans lived in a world where they could walk to places, in cities and compact small towns and "streetcar suburbs." In a postwar sprawlburb, you can't buy a can of soda without your car.

 

[KingOrfeo]

Massive influx of Third Worlders tipping the scales.

Well, they don't seem to be dying prematurely.

 

[Rightguide]

That guy on the left ... I'll bet his penmanship is even worse than mine.

Not too long ago the Commandant of the Marine Corps called the burgeoning numbers of fat kids a threat to the national security.

 

[KingOrfeo]

The fact is you couldn't find enough fit men in America to flesh out a WWII size army.

Who needs that kind of army any more? Today's warfare is a business for career soldiers, and far fewer of them are necessary.