OVER the past 100 years, mankind has made great leaps in eliminating diseases and learning how to keep people alive. The life expectancy of a person born in America in 1900 was just 47 years. Eighty years later that figure had increased to 70 years for men and 77 years for women. But since then progress has slowed: a boy born in America in 2013 is expected to live just six years longer than his 1990 cohort. And not all of his twilight years will be golden. Statisticians at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington have calculated new figures that adjust life expectancy at birth for the number of healthy years that a person can be expected to enjoy, free from disease and disability. An American male born in 1990 is expected to live until 72, but can expect nine years of ill health. By 2013, life expectancy increased to 76 years, but with ten and a half years living in ill health. Since 1990, American men have gained an additional three years of healthy life and an additional four and half years of ill health. Such has been the slow rate of longevity progress in America, that Chinese and Iranian men born today are expected to live longer and healthier lives than their American counterparts. America spends a great of money keeping people alive for longer: around one quarter of America’s spending on Medicare, or healthcare for the elderly, is spent during the last six months of life alone. Perhaps knowing when to give up the ghost is the key to real happiness and national wealth. Source
