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I'm Rob Logan, Ph.D. senior staff National Library of Medicine substituting this week for Donald Lindberg, M.D, the Director of the U.S. National of Medicine.

Here is what's new this week in MedlinePlus.

To listen to Dr. Lindberg's comments, click here

Life expectancy for Americans surpassed 78 years for the first time in 2006, and life span increases occurred for both men and women, the National Center for Health Statistics recently reported.

American women continue to outlive men. The record life expectancy for both white and African-American women was almost 77 and 71 years, respectively. But male life expectancy jumped too (at 76 and 70 years respectively for white and African-Americans). Incidentally, the National Center for Health Statistics hopes to report life expectancy for Latino Americans next year for the first time.

Overall, U.S. life expectancy still lags behind about 30 nations, including Switzerland, Australia, and Japan. Currently, the average life expectancy for babies born in Japan in 2006 tops all nations at 83 years. Nevertheless, last year's estimates suggest the U.S. could be catching up on some nations.

The National Center for Health Statistics data are based on a census of death certificates filed in the U.S. in 2006. The projections recently announced are based on about 95 percent of death certificates and represent estimates. The final report is provided later. For example, the final report for 2005 recently was posted in the 'related issues' section of MedlinePlus.gov's health statistics health topic page.

The National Center for Health Statistics is part of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which is the U.S.' major public health agency.
      
Although the results are estimated, the report found the average life expectancy for Americans born in 2006 was four months greater than for children born in 2005. Although (sadly) an estimated 2.4 million Americans died in 2006, there were 22,000 fewer deaths in 2006 compared to 2005, which is a statistically significant decline. Even infant mortality rates dropped more than two percent in 2006.

For adults, the improvement is based on falling death rates in nine of the 15 leading causes of death, including heart disease, cancer, accidents, and diabetes.

There was a drop of more than six percent in stroke and respiratory diseases, such as bronchitis and emphysema. Heart disease and diabetes deaths also declined by more than five percent in the U.S.

Ironically, the drop in diabetes deaths resulted in its replacement by Alzheimer's Disease as the sixth leading cause of death in the U.S. Deaths from Alzheimer's Disease actually were about the same in 2006 as the year before, but diabetes deaths fell sharply.

Unfortunately, there is a fly in the oatmeal of this data, which suggests 2006's declines might be a one year blip. The report acknowledges a reason for 2006's overall decline was a 13 percent drop in flu and pneumonia rates. In comparison to 2005, 2006 was a relatively mild flu season. Flu can trigger deaths from heart disease and other conditions. As a result, health officials told news services, such as MSNBC, that it is difficult to tell if 2006's success reflects an improving trend.

Of course, we sincerely hope so….

As aforementioned, there are links in the 'related issues' section of MedlinePlus.gov's health statistics page to the annual mortality data. The file for 2005 is called: 'Deaths: Final data for 2005 (National Center for Health Statistics).'

The 'related issues' section also contains 2007's initial estimates of deaths, marriages, and divorces from the same source. The 'related issues' section additionally provides an interesting web site from the Centers for Disease Controls and Prevention that provides ongoing data about how Americans perceive their quality of life and health. This website's focus strikes us as clever because for many Americans the underlying issue regarding their health is quality of life.

Among many interesting findings, the CDC site reports Americans say they feel unhealthy (physically or mentally) about six days per month.

The site reports Americans say they feel "healthy and full of energy" about 19 days per month. Nearly one-third of Americans say they suffer from some mental or emotional problem every month; 10 percent said their mental health was not good for 14 or more days a month.

The site provides a U.S. map and notes the average days Americans report they feel unhealthy across the country. The map reveals that Iowans, Nebraskans, North and South Dakotans and Hawaiians report fewer unhealthy days per month than persons who live in other states. For those of us who do not live in these states, at least a trend toward feeling better is not exclusively linked to cold or warm weather… 

The link to the CDC site is called: 'what are some of the CDC's key findings related to adult health-related quality of life.
Other information on MedlinePlus.gov's health statistics health topic page include: overviews about health statistics, news, links to new journal research articles, and specific information about children, teens, men, women, and seniors.

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It was nice to be with you….