Study life expectancy increased worldwide by 6 years

Global Burden of Disease Study shows increase in lifespan since the nineties

18/12/2014

People live longer and longer. Like the current one „Global Burden of Disease Study 2013“ shows that the life expectancy of the world's population has increased by a good six years. The oldest are Japanese women with an average of 87 years, but also in Germany, the people since 1990, on average, 5.4 years older.

Men are 5.8 and 6.6 years older than they were 25 years ago
People are getting older all over the world. This report currently more than 700 researchers in the journal “The Lancet”, which claims to have made the most comprehensive and up-to-date analysis of annual deaths for 188 countries and 240 causes of death. Like from the „Global Burden of Disease Study“ According to the GBD, the life expectancy of the world's population has increased by a good six years from 65.3 to 71.5 years over the past 15 years.

While the birth cohorts from 1990 to 2013 recorded an increase of 5.8 years among men, the average life expectancy among women rose by as much as 6.6 years. However, one exception would be the sub-Saharan African countries, where life expectancy fell by around five years in the same period, mainly due to the continued spread of the AIDS-related immunodeficiency syndrome. „In most countries, the general pattern of reducing age- and sex-related mortality is associated with a progressive shift towards a higher proportion of other deaths from non-communicable diseases and injuries“, so the researchers in „The Lancet“.

The most common causes of death worldwide are heart disease, stroke and COPD
As the researchers further report, heart disease, stroke and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in 2013 were the leading causes of death worldwide, accounting for nearly one-third (32 percent) of all deaths. On the other hand, a positive development was found for most types of cancer, where the death rate fell by 15 percent - at least in the industrialized countries. Also in the case of heart disease, a reduction of 22 percent was achieved here compared to other countries. In developing countries, however, the number of deaths due to diarrheal and respiratory diseases as well as in connection with childbirth fell. For example, in 2013, 51 percent fewer people died of diarrhea than before.

Women in India are ten years older
It was a great success, because scientists in many poor countries such as Nepal, Rwanda and Ethiopia had increased their average life expectancy by more than twelve years. Similarly, the situation in India, a country which, due to the population of more than 1.2 billion people was of special importance for the evaluation. Here is the life span according to the „Global Burden of Disease Study“ increased by about seven years for men and about ten years for women.

Past successes are not enough
„The progress that we see for various diseases and injuries is good, even extraordinary, but we can and must do more”, says study leader Christopher Murray from the University of Washington in Seattle. On the other hand, there has been a significant increase in the number of deaths due to cardiac arrhythmia since 1990 in the case of causes of death such as liver cancer as a result of hepatitis C. In addition, according to the study, an increase in drug-related problems (plus 63 percent), kidney disease (plus 37 percent), diabetes (9 percent) and pancreatic cancer (7 percent), also had the war in Syria last year, an estimated 30,000 lives required.

Japanese women reach the highest age at an average of 87 years
Already in May, the World Health Organization (WHO) had in May 2014 in the context of „World Health Statistics 2014“ similar results published. From this it emerged that among the women born in 2012, the Japanese would have the longest lifespan with an average of 87 years, while the men of 81 years would have the Icelanders. For Germany, a life expectancy of the 2012-born of 78 years (men) and 83 years (women) could be identified. According to the results of the Global Burden of Disease Study - followed by Alzheimer's, colon cancer and COPD - the most frequent causes of death in 2013 were heart disease, lung cancer and stroke. (No)