Prescription pill abuse by middle-aged white men in U.S. has closed gap in life expectancy of races

Prescription pill abuse by middle-aged white men has contributed to closing the gap between the life expectancies of black and white Americans.

The gap has long been associated with social inequality, like access to healthcare and quality of life, but Canadian researcher Dr Sam Harper said that increased prescription drug abuse among whites had a major role in the new statistics.

The decline in mortality rates among blacks for heart disease, homicide and HIV has also led to closing the chasm, according to Dr Harper's new report.

Drug: The gap has long been associated with social inequality, like access to healthcare and quality of life, but Dr Sam Harper says that increased prescription drug abuse among whites has contributed to the new statistics

The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, stated that the difference between white and black American lifespans has shrunk significantly.

Dr Harper studied national data that showed not only an increase in the length of Americans' lives but also a drop in the disparity between races.

The epidemiologist from McGill University in Montreal analyzed data from the Centers for Disease Control, U.S. National Vital Statistics System, and various other centers.

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Between 2003 and 2008, life expectancy at birth increased from 75.3 to 76.2 years among non-Hispanic, white men and from 68.8 to 70.8 years among non-Hispanic black men.

For women, the changes were from 80.3 to 81.2 years (non-Hispanic whites) and 75.7 to 77.5 years (non-Hispanic blacks), according to the study.

Trend: Between 2003 and 2008, life expectancy at birth increased from 75.3 to 76.2 years among non-Hispanic white men and from 68.8 to 70.8 years among non-Hispanic black men

Pattern: For women, the changes were from 80.3 to 81.2 years (non-Hispanic whites) and 75.7 to 77.5 years (non-Hispanic blacks), according to the study

These changes reduced the racial gap from 6.5 to 5.4 years among men and from 4.6 to 3.7 years among women.

'Between 2003 and 2008, the gap in life expectancy between non-Hispanic blacks and whites declined by approximately 1 year for both sexes,' Dr Harper said in the report.

'Heart disease, diabetes, homicide, HIV and infant mortality remain the chief causes of the black-white gap.'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2167277/Life-expectancy-disparity-races-reaches-time-low-U-S.html#ixzz1zTbf8ndJ