Increased Life Expectancy Usa

It is surveyed that life expectancy for the US has been increasing gradually in recent years. Data released recently suggests that the U.S. life expectancy is at an all-time high. Babies born in the year 2009 are expected to live 78 years, 2 months (Taylor, 2011). The increased life expectancy results from the high standard of living and the improvement of medical treatment.

First of all, the high standard of living plays a significant role on the increased life expectancy. In recent years, with the development of the economy, people's living condition and consumption have become higher and healthier in such areas as food, clothing, housing, transportation, and education. The improvement of living standard can also be seen from the change in nutrition. People gain nutritional information from books, internet, and through TV and radio. They now know what to eat and are more careful in their diet. People have shifted their interest in food from quantity to quality, and they are gradually realizing the importance of nutrition which is good for their health; therefore, they are paying more attention to choose nutritional food to eat so that they can be healthy.

Second, the improvement of medical treatment may also have a measurable influence on life expectancy. It is obvious that people in the past suffered more serious diseases such as AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis. Those diseases are fatal and account for 10% of global mortality. Surprisingly, the death rate, in the modern time, is decreasing. Since new medical technologies, the updated medical facilities, and the continuing research on disease prevention, people are blessed with more opportunities to maintain health. For instance, a treatment of HAART is used to manage AIDS, the incurable disease. Therefore, people can live a long life even with AIDS.

In a nutshell, the increased life expectancy is the effect of the high standard of living and the improvement of medical treatment.