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The lifespan of the centenarians in America has increased.
More and more Americans are centenarians, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The number of people over 100 years old has increased with 44% since 2000.
In 2000, 50,282 centenarians were registered and in 2014, that number increased to 72,197. In 1980, there were only 15,000 American centenarians. The demographers are very impressed by the new statistics. According to William H. Frey, who is a senior demographer, the centenarians were very rare in the recent past. The report shows that not only did the number of centenarians increase, but so did their lifespan. In the last years, the death rates for centenarians has decreased considerably, no matter the age, gender or race. Women have been known to live longer than men, and in the case of the centenarians, they make no exceptions. More than 80% of the centenarians registered in 2014, were women.
The centenarians can consider themselves lucky, as most people that were born in 1900 didn’t live more than 50 years. The death rates have decreased mostly because of the improved technology, medical care and hygiene. Also, new vaccines and antibiotics were developed.
The only exception nowadays is the opioid overdose, which has led to many deaths among the young and middle aged white persons. Apparently, the white people in America are the main cause of aging in the country. In 2010, reports showed that the white people have an average lifespan of only 42 years old. The Hispanic population had much lower rates though, with an average lifespan of 27 years old.
Some of the baby boomers have already started to retire in the United States, and their numbers will make for record elder levels in the country. As so many people are coming close to being considered elder and as the lifespan in the country has increased, experts believe that the country is not ready for such a high number of elders.
More and more Americans are centenarians, as the death rates of the centenarian women have decreased with 14% in the last years and with 33.2% for the centenarian men. In the last years, death rates from hypertension increased with 88% and the death rates from Alzheimer’s increased with 119%. Even though in 2014 heart disease was the main cause of death for the centenarians, the heart disease death rates have decreased with 24%. Also, the death rates caused by strokes decreased with 31% and the pneumonia and influenza death rates decreased with 48%.
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