Death rates, health problems, rise among middle-aged white Americans

Catching up with Eurekalert. When I get caught up, I expect to find posts that show that much of the decrease in health for this demographic group is due to those that are poor.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-11/nioa-drh103015.php

Public Release: 2-Nov-2015
Death rates, health problems, rise among middle-aged white Americans
Suicide, drug and alcohol poisoning, liver diseases are top causes of death
NIH/National Institute on Aging

Deaths among white U.S. men and women aged 45-54 rose significantly between 1999 and 2013, according to a new analysis. This change reversed decades of progress in mortality and was unique to non-Hispanic whites in the United States. In parallel, morbidity rates increased as well. The study found self-reported declines in health, mental health, and abilities to conduct activities of daily living, accompanied by increases in reports of chronic pain, inability to work, and deterioration of liver function among this group.

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The three causes of death that accounted for the change in mortality among non-Hispanic whites were suicide, drug and alcohol poisoning, and chronic liver diseases and cirrhosis. The researchers used data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Census Bureau, individual death records, and other sources for their analysis.

From 1978-1998, the mortality rate for middle-aged white Americans fell by an average of two percent per year. This matched the average rate of decline in France, Germany, Canada, Australia, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, as well as the average over all European Union countries. Other rich countries continued to decline at about two percent per year after 1998. The mortality rate for middle-aged people in the United States began to increase by half a percent a year, starting in 1999.
he authors note that the increase in midlife mortality is only partly understood. Increased availability of opioid prescription drugs, chronic pain (for which opioids are often prescribed), and the economic crisis which began in 2008 may all have contributed to an increase in overdoses, suicide, and increased liver disease associated with alcohol abuse. In their discussion, the researchers also noted that the reversal in health trends indicates that today's middle-aged adults will be entering their senior years and Medicare eligibility in worse health than today's adults age 65 and older.