U.S. Lags Behind 41 Nations in Life Span

[Kadie]

U.S. Lags Behind 41 Nations in Life Span
By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER, Associated Press Writer

Saturday, August 11, 2007

(08-11) 11:53 PDT WASHINGTON, (AP) --


Americans are living longer than ever, but not as long as people in 41 other countries.

For decades, the United States has been slipping in international rankings of life expectancy, as other countries improve health care, nutrition and lifestyles.

Countries that surpass the U.S. include Japan and most of Europe, as well as Jordan, Guam and the Cayman Islands.

"Something's wrong here when one of the richest countries in the world, the one that spends the most on health care, is not able to keep up with other countries," said Dr. Christopher Murray, head of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington.

A baby born in the United States in 2004 will live an average of 77.9 years. That life expectancy ranks 42nd, down from 11th two decades earlier, according to international numbers provided by the Census Bureau and domestic numbers from the National Center for Health Statistics.


more...
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/08/11/national/w115334D54.DTL&tsp=1

[G_j]

1. one more wake up call

"The starting point is the recognition that the U.S. does not have the best health care system. There are still an awful lot of people who think it does."


__

[kimmerspixelated]

2. That's right ,something IS wrong!

The Healthcare system is totally fucked, for one thing and the most important thing, is that people need to take control of their own health. If they would visit their own healthfood stores more often,instead of their doctors (who prescribe only toxins) and/or... grow their own organic foods, instead of fast-fooding their lives away, maybe they/we would live a lot longer!

[tom_paine]

3. We are the richest Third World Nation on Earth

but we are still a Third World Nation with crumbling infrastructure, no real free press, and a corrupted system.