Dr. Adams
01-28-2011, 04:36 PM
"Life expectancies in the U.S. are now lower than for many other industrialized countries, and the nation’s past love affair with tobacco is largely to blame.
Americans are dying younger than some of their counterparts in other high-income countries.
The average life expectancy for men in the U.S. was 75.6 years in 2007, compared to around 79 years among men in living in Australia, Japan, and Sweden and between 77 and 78 years among men living in the Canada, Italy, the Netherlands, Great Britain, and France.
The life expectancy for women in the U.S. is 80.8 years, which is lower than for any other high-income country included in the analysis except Denmark (80.5 years).
There is a lag time of several decades between when people smoke and when they die of smoking-related diseases. The panel found the impact of smoking on life expectancy to be especially pronounced among American women who, as a group, both started and began to stop smoking later than men.
Smoking rates peaked for men in the U.S. in the mid 1950s at around 57%, but had dropped to around 30% by 1990. Rates were highest among women in the 1960s and 1970s, when between 30% and 35% of women smoked.
Around 23% of American men and 18% of American women now smoke."
CDC web site: “Smoking Prevalence Among US Adults, 1955-2007.”
Americans are dying younger than some of their counterparts in other high-income countries.
The average life expectancy for men in the U.S. was 75.6 years in 2007, compared to around 79 years among men in living in Australia, Japan, and Sweden and between 77 and 78 years among men living in the Canada, Italy, the Netherlands, Great Britain, and France.
The life expectancy for women in the U.S. is 80.8 years, which is lower than for any other high-income country included in the analysis except Denmark (80.5 years).
There is a lag time of several decades between when people smoke and when they die of smoking-related diseases. The panel found the impact of smoking on life expectancy to be especially pronounced among American women who, as a group, both started and began to stop smoking later than men.
Smoking rates peaked for men in the U.S. in the mid 1950s at around 57%, but had dropped to around 30% by 1990. Rates were highest among women in the 1960s and 1970s, when between 30% and 35% of women smoked.
Around 23% of American men and 18% of American women now smoke."
CDC web site: “Smoking Prevalence Among US Adults, 1955-2007.”