Death rates rising for middle-aged whites

[Crockett]

http://www.npr.org/sections/health-...ersal-death-rates-rise-for-middle-aged-whites

I've been surprised at how many of my high school classmates have passed away too young. I don't know the individual circumstance, but most of those who have passed on fit the demographic of not educated beyond high school.

I grew up in a community where it was common for men in blue collar jobs to make a lot more money than spouses who were college-educated teachers or nurses in the 1970s. Some of their kids did well in the oilfield, manufacturing, public utilities, but great blue collar jobs are rare and less permanent. Anecdotal stories of unemployment, 401Ks drained for immediate pre-retirment needs and despairing people with handy access to meth and heroin are something I know. The fact that there is enough of that kind of stuff happening that it's reversing gains in life expectancy is a surprise.

I expect smoking, the leading preventable cause of premature death, is down in the demographic my age and younger, since media saturation about the dangers of smoking was in full force when I became old enough to smoke..

 

[nashhorn]

Not sure I agree with the conclusion in last paragraph only because we are quoted all these statistics about how the unemployed Black American population has increased over the last decade. So doesn't follow to me the white mortality would increase discriminately for economic reasons. More likely to me is a relationship to the newly announced cancer agents: i.e. processed meats, etc. We have become very lazy with our eating habits. Maybe this has a relationship.

 

[Crockett]

From the article:

Most of the increase came from suicides, drug overdoses and alcoholism.

Not sure about most families, but my family eats a lot less fat, sugar, red meat than the one I grew up in. Of course, nobody I know is doing farm chores like I did as a kid.

 

[zork]

Fast food by itself is not healthy then you add the special ingredients inserted by the workers:




If you want to live longer reduce all fast food intake.