US life expectancy drops for first time since AIDS crisis peak
MIAMI (AFP) -
Life expectancy in the United States dropped last year for the first time since the peak of the HIV/AIDS crisis more than 20 years ago, as deaths rose from nearly every major cause, federal data showed Thursday.
The total US population's life expectancy in 2015 was 78.8 years, a decrease of 0.1 year from 2014, said the report by the National Center for Health Statistics.
Deaths from eight of the top 10 causes mounted, including spikes in accidental deaths among children and deaths from Alzheimer's disease in the elderly.
The report did not delve into the reasons for the across-the-board decline in life expectancy from birth, but experts pointed to economic struggles, drug addiction and the increasing burden of dementia on an aging population as potential factors.
Across the nation, 86,212 more people died in 2015 than a year earlier.
http://www.france24.com/en/20161208-us-life-expectancy-drops-first-time-aids-crisis-peak