Covid-19 and drug overdoses have pushed U.S. life expectancy to its lowest level in 25 years, CDC reports

CNN
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Life expectancy in the United States fell for the second year in a row in 2021, dropping to its lowest level since 1996, according to final mortality data released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics.

Covid-19 is the leading cause of declining life expectancy, now nearly two and a half years shorter than it was at the start of the pandemic. After dropping 1.8 years in 2020, he dropped another 0.6 years last year, bringing life expectancy in the United States to 76.4 in 2021.

Robert Anderson, director of mortality statistics at the National Center for Health Statistics, said, “I think what we’re seeing in terms of mortality patterns is largely driven by the pandemic. Not surprisingly, but “pretty much”.

Final mortality data are less severe than previously predicted estimates. Preliminary data suggests that life expectancy may drop by nearly a year to her in 2021.

Nearly 1 in 8 deaths in 2021 were due to Covid-19, up from about 1 in 10 in 2020. This again became his third leading cause of death. Heart disease remains the leading cause of death, followed by cancer. About half of all deaths last year were due to these three causes.

Drug overdose deaths also increased significantly across the pandemic, reaching record levels in 2021. In 2021, he will have nearly 107,000 deaths from drug overdoses, and age-adjusted death rates from overdoses have risen by more than 14% in one year and more than 50% in the past. 2 years.

“These data are very tragic, but not surprising,” said Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse. “The pandemic has had a major impact on an already devastating overdose crisis, exacerbating many of the stressors in society that make people more vulnerable to taking drugs.”

Final CDC mortality data show that between 2020 and 2021, overall mortality increased for all age groups except infants under 1 year of age. But the biggest increase was between his 35 and 44 years, the group most affected by drug overdose deaths.

“Fentanyl continues to permeate the illicit drug supply, increasing the risk of overdose among both people with substance use disorders and those who occasionally use drugs, making substance use more likely than ever before. We know it’s dangerous,” Volkow said.

Deaths involving synthetic opioids such as fentanyl will increase by 22% in 2021, according to CDC data. Deaths from psychostimulants such as cocaine and methamphetamine also increased significantly, while deaths from heroin decreased.

Overall, women’s life expectancy in 2021 was nearly six years longer than men’s, a difference similar to that in 2020. American Indians and Alaskan Natives.

Mortality among black men declined slightly in 2021, but was still the second highest among demographic groups.

“Anytime the mortality rate goes down, it’s a good thing,” Anderson said. The decline is in line with the pattern of the pandemic, he said, as the Covid-19 mortality gap narrowed in 2021.

However, 2021 life expectancy data by race and ethnicity have not yet been finalized, and life expectancy for black men may have declined even as mortality improved.

“If the mortality rate among the young is disproportionately higher than among the elderly, it can have a very large impact on life expectancy,” Anderson said.

However, Caucasian mortality rose significantly, rising by about 7% for both men and women from 2020 to 2021. This is another shift consistent with pandemic trends. Only about half of whites in the United States have had their first Covid-19 vaccine, well below the national average, and CDC data show that for those who have not been vaccinated by December 2021, It is estimated that the risk of dying from Covid-19 was about seven times higher.

We had a very mild flu season last year, and in 2021, flu and pneumonia have dropped out of the 10 leading causes of death. Of those, drug overdoses accounted for more than a third of his. stroke; chronic lower respiratory tract disease; Alzheimer’s disease; diabetes; chronic liver and kidney disease.

According to Anderson, between 2020 and 2021, age-adjusted mortality rates are rising for eight of the 10 leading causes of death, and the changes are “significant.”

Although not directly attributable to Covid-19, many changes in mortality are “almost certainly related to the pandemic,” he said, citing a 3% increase in heart disease and a 6% increase in stroke. pointed out.

“These are things that we will have to watch closely over the next few years, both in terms of surveillance data and final data,” he said. And we have to keep an eye on them.”

Longer term, it is difficult to know what life expectancy trends will be.

“I know it didn’t happen in 2022, but let’s say everything goes back to normal in 2023. Life expectancy may finally be back where it was,” said Anderson. increase.

“But I think there are enough people who have been infected[with Covid]or who have chronic problems that Covid has caused, but in the long run it can shorten their lives and Mortality can be high.”

The opioid epidemic can also impede progress.

“There are treatments and tools available, but we need to prioritize taking them off the shelf and maximizing their potential,” said Volkow. “To curb the overdose crisis, we need to work together with this same urgency to accelerate discovery in addiction science, provide treatment and support to people with substance use disorders, and deploy life-saving preventive interventions. It’s important to put the nature and infrastructure into action.”

Anderson said the United States is still experiencing a significant number of Covid-19 deaths, but it’s doing much better than before.

“I think we’ll at least see a return to the trend of longer lifespans. But it’s hard to know how long it will take to get back in 2019.