What are the real reasons behind the drop in life expectancy?

What's the real reason for the decline in life expectancy?

More Americans than ever have kicked their smoking habit.

We’re more active, too. A recent Gallup poll found that over 50 percent of Americans are doing some type of exercise three or more times a week!

That’s the good news.

And the bad?

The life expectancy in the U.S. has dropped for the first time in almost a quarter of a century.

At a time when medical technology has gone beyond our wildest dreams… and Fitbits and other devices track our every move, even telling us when it’s time to stand up… it seems almost unbelievable.

Especially when you hear the reasons behind it.

It all boils down to the fact that the more trust we put in the FDA and Big Pharma, the less time we may have to enjoy our golden years.

False promises

While some statisticians are trying to smooth over this recent life expectancy drop as nothing more than a statistical blip, others think it’s a very “big deal.”

Life expectancy is the best indicator there is of the well-being of a population, according to Philip Morgan, who studies population data at the University of North Carolina. And, as he says, “The fact that it’s leveling off in the U.S. is a striking finding.”

But here’s the thing: While another dip in the U.S. life expectancy happened before in 1993, that was specifically connected to an increase in deaths from AIDS, accidents and homicides.

This current one, which is based on 2015 data, is being blamed on an uptick in deaths from conditions such as heart and kidney disease, strokes, diabetes and Alzheimer’s.

While experts are saying that it’s difficult to pinpoint “one particular cause” as the reason, it’s still absolutely shocking that we haven’t made more progress in treating those diseases — especially since most of Big Pharma’s focus is on creating wildly expensive drugs for these conditions.

Why, over the last few years I’ve told you about half-a-dozen new diabetes meds and a bunch of risky, new high-tech drugs to lower cholesterol.

And that’s not to mention how many millions of Americans are now popping statins and proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), as well as drugs for high-blood pressure and to treat or prevent various heart problems.

Obviously, a lot of these so-called treatments aren’t worth the prescription pads they’re written on.

While experts are anxiously awaiting the more current 2016 numbers to come in, you don’t have to wait one more minute to start making use of some real tried and true ways to not become a part of those statistics.

For example:

Heart disease: Toss all those low-fat foods in the trash. Plenty of research has confirmed that not only don’t full-fat dairy products cause heart disease, but that a dairy fat (found in high amounts in butter, by the way) can “significantly reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.”

And while you’re cleaning out your kitchen cupboards, also trash any processed foods containing partially hydrogenated oils. Even the FDA (which claims that it’s in the process of phasing them out) says that they are causing over 20,000 heart attacks and 7,000 deaths a year.

Kidney disease: If your kidneys aren’t in tip-top shape, numerous drugs can tilt the balance and cause serious kidney damage. I’m talking about ones like statins, antiviral drugs (such as Tamiflu, which also happens to be practically worthless), PPIs and numerous NSAIDs for treating pain (such as aspirin, Advil and Aleve).

Diabetes: Here’s another reason to ditch the statins. Numerous studies have found these cholesterol-lowering drugs can cause type 2 diabetes. This frightening link was confirmed again last year when researchers discovered that meds like Lipitor and Crestor can even turn perfectly healthy people into diabetics.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Whatever the new statistics reveal, one thing we do know is that despite the boatloads of drugs many Americans are now taking, it doesn’t appear to be helping us to live any longer.

“Life expectancy in the U.S. drops for the first time in decades, report finds” Rob Stein, December 8, 2016, NPR, npr.org