WEDNESDAY JUNE 11, 2008 (foodconsumer.org) – The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a report today saying that age-adjusted death rates in the United States dropped significantly between 2005 and 2006 and life expectancy hit another new record high.
The findings were derived from preliminary death statistics released today by CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics.
The report says that the 2006 age-adjusted death rate fell to 776.4 deaths per 100,000 population from 799 deaths per 100,000 in 2005.
Additionally, death rates for eight of the 10 leading causes of death in the United States all dropped significantly in 2006, according to the report. Mortality from influenza and pneumonia also dropped sharply.
The infant mortality rate for 2006 was 6.7 infant deaths per 1,000 live births, a 2.3 percent decline from the 2005 rate of 6.9 although the rate was still high compared to that in many other countries.
The report finds that life expectancy at birth in 2006 was 78.1 years, a 0.3 increase from 2005.
Life expectancy for both white males and black males were 76 years and 70 years respectively compared to 81 and 76.9 years for white and black females respectively.
Preliminary data showed the number of deaths in the United States in 2006 was 2,425,900, a reduction of 22,117 compared to that in 2005.
During the period between 2005 and 2006, the largest decline in age-adjusted death rates was observed for influenza/pneumonia (12.8 percent).
Other declines were found for chronic lower respiratory diseases (6.5 percent), stroke (6.4 percent), heart disease (5.5 percent), diabetes (5.3 percent), hypertension (5 percent), chronic liver disease/cirrhosis (3.3 percent), suicide (2.8 percent), septicemia, also known as blood poisoning (2.7 percent), cancer (1.6 percent) and accidents (1.5 percent).
Even deaths from HIV/AIDS decreased in 2006 to 12,045, a 4.8 percent drop from 2005.
Death from Alzheimer’s did not change significantly between 2005 and 2006.
An estimated 72,914 Americans died of this disease in 2006.
Alzheimer's disease overtook diabetes to become the 6th leading cause of death in the United States in 2006.
For more information, read the full report.
