Live longer in new year!

Two years ago, U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) data revealed a sudden drop in life expectancy in the U.S. for 2015.^1,2 It was the first decline in 20 years. The trend continued in 2016,³ and the latest data for 2017⁴ show the downward trend continuing for the third year in a row, which makes it the longest downward trend since World War I and the 1918 flu pandemic.⁵

Overall, the average life expectancy for the total U.S. population in 2017 was 78.6 years, down one-tenth of a percentage point from 2016. Life expectancy for men also declined, from 76.2 years in 2016 to 76.1 years in 2017, while life expectancy for women remained stable at 81.1 years.

In all, life expectancy for Americans has fallen by about four months over the past three years. Robert Anderson, chief of mortality statistics at the CDC, commented on the latest report:

“The idea that a developed wealthy nation like ours has declining life expectancy just doesn’t seem right. If you look at the other wealthy countries of the world, they’re not seeing the same thing.”⁶

Christopher Murray, the director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, also commented, saying the data “confirms that there’s a profound change in the trajectory of mortality. This should really be getting everyone’s attention in a major way.”⁷

Drug Overdoses Drive Declining Life Expectancy in US

The initial decline in 2015 was primarily attributed to a rise in several categories of preventable deaths,⁸ including opioid overdoses, highlighting the failure of the American health care system to properly address the root causes of chronic disease and rein in the burgeoning opioid addiction epidemic.

The decline in 2016 was again driven largely by an increased number of deaths among younger Americans, fueled by opioid and fentanyl overdoses, while the 2017 drop is being attributed to a combination of still-increasing drug overdoses — especially from fentanyl — and a 3.7 percent rise in suicides.^9,10

In 2017, the suicide rate was 14 per 100,000, up from 10.5 in 1999, concentrated in rural America, with middle-aged women committing suicide at a greater rate than men. With more than 47,000 Americans committing suicide in 2017, about 2,000 more than the year before, it’s the highest suicide death rate in at least 50 years.¹¹

The rise in suicide has also demolished the old stereotype that only chronically depressed people take their own lives. In reality, more than half of those who commit suicide have no known mental health problem at the time of death.^12,13

Relationship problems, substance abuse, physical health problems, work and/or financial stress, legal problems and loss of housing are all contributing factors for suicide.¹⁴ CDC principal deputy director Dr. Anne Schuchat told CBS News:¹⁵

“Our data suggests that suicide is more than a mental health issue. We think that a comprehensive approach to suicide is what’s needed. If we only look at this as a mental health issue, we won’t make the progress that we need.”

Fentanyl-Related Deaths Nearly Double for Second Year in a Row

Overall, about 70,000 more people died in 2017 than the year before,¹⁶ a number which is incidentally nearly identical to the number of people who died from drug overdoses that year, totaling 70,237 in all.¹⁷

Disturbingly, while overdose deaths relating to prescription opioids seem to have leveled off, deaths from fentanyl (a synthetic opioid that is far stronger) are increasingly sharply. According to Joshua M. Sharfstein, vice dean for public health practice and community engagement at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, “The opioid market has been completely taken over by fentanyl.”¹⁸

The most recent data suggests fentanyl-related deaths rose from 19,413 in 2016 to nearly 28,466 in 2017¹⁹ — a 47 percent increase. Fentanyl-related deaths also more than doubled between 2015 and 2016.

As reported by The Atlantic,²⁰ “Three reports released by the [CDC] … paint a bleak picture of a country in which people are growing sick, using drugs and dying young — many of them by their own hand.” And, as noted in The Washington Post:²¹

“Sharfstein said the most lamentable aspect of the crises is that policymakers know which approaches make a difference, such as medically assisted treatment for drug abusers and increased availability of mental health services in states where they are lacking.

‘So the frustration that many of us feel is that there are things that could save many lives,’ he said, ‘and we are failing to make those services available.’”

Top 10 Leading Causes of Death in 2017

In order, the 10 leading causes of death in the U.S. in 2017 were:²²

1. Heart disease
2. Cancer
3. Unintentional injuries (which includes drug overdoses)
4. Chronic lower respiratory diseases
5. Stroke
6. Alzheimer’s disease
7. Diabetes
8. Influenza and pneumonia
9. Kidney disease
10. Suicide

Of course, this ranking is biased and fails to integrate a more comprehensive analysis that includes medical errors. If you include medical errors in the calculation, you find that conventional medicine is the third leading cause of death.

I actually coined the term that doctors are the third leading cause of death in an article I published in 2000 after reading the print JAMA article by Dr. Barbara Starfield,²³ and did the calculations based on her data. The term ended up being copied by many other sites. Ironically, Starfield, a medical doctor with a Ph.D. from Stanford, died from a medical mistake. She suffered a stroke from taking Plavix.²⁴

What’s Driving the Rises in Drug Overdoses and Suicides?

Reigning in drug overdoses and suicide rates will likely require more than improved availability of treatment. We also need to understand the underlying causes. As suggested by Dr. William Dietz, disease prevention expert at George Washington University, I agree there appears to be a sense of hopelessness beneath these self-destructive trends. CBS News reports:²⁵

“Financial struggles, a widening income gap and divisive politics are all casting a pall over many Americans, [Dietz] suggested. ‘I really do believe that people are increasingly hopeless, and that that leads to drug use, it leads potentially to suicide,’ he said.”

I would suggest social disconnection may also be part of the problem. While social media keeps us connected to many, it actually tends to alienate us from those closest to us, as trying to have a conversation with someone sitting with their nose glued to a screen hardly encourages intimacy. Social media also tends to be a source of stress.

Yet another important, yet frequently overlooked contributor to depression and other neuropsychiatric disorders is the electromagnetic field exposure from all of these wireless devices. In 2016, Martin Pall, Ph.D., wrote a magnificent and comprehensive review on this that is available for free online.²⁶ In it, he reviews how regular exposure to low intensity microwaves, like those from your cellphone and Wi-Fi, impact your nervous system.

Social Media Use Linked to Stress and Feeling Disconnected From Family

According to the American Psychological Association’s (APA) 2017 Stress in America survey,²⁷ only 7 percent of American adults used social media in 2005. By 2015 that had grown to 65 percent. Among 18- to 29-year-olds, usage grew from 12 to 90 percent in that same timeframe.

A constant checker is someone who checks their email, text messages and social media accounts “constantly” throughout the day; 43 percent of Americans fit this bill, according to the APA, but they may be sacrificing their health as a result.

While non-checkers reported a stress level of 4.4 on a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 being “a great deal of stress”), constant checkers’ average stress level was 5.3. This climbed to 6 among those who constantly checked their work email even during their days off.

The use of technology is in itself a source of stress for some Americans, especially when it’s not working properly, and especially for constant checkers (23 percent compared to 14 percent of non-constant checkers). Meanwhile, constant checkers faced increased stress from social media, compared to non-checkers, namely due to political and cultural discussions.

Constant checkers were also more likely to report feeling disconnected from family due to technology, including when they’re together, while 35 percent of this group also admitted social media made in-person meetings with family and friends less likely.

All of this makes identifying suicide risk all the more difficult, especially since about half of all suicides occur more or less without warning, triggered by an “acutely” stressful episode, such as the loss of a relationship or job, or sudden, deep feelings of alienation.

Know the 12 Warning Signs of Suicide, and How to Help

While some are better at keeping their depression and any thoughts of suicide well hidden, even from the ones they love, it’s important for everyone to recognize the warning signs, and what they can do to help. According to the CDC, the 12 warning signs that someone may be contemplating or getting close to suicide are:²⁸

If you notice one or more of these signs, take the following five steps to help.

1. Ask how they are feeling and if they are considering ending their life, or if they have a plan to do so
2. Don’t let them be alone and do your best to keep them safe
3. Make yourself available to them
4. Reach out to them daily and help them connect to others
5. Follow up

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