death rates

20 Stories

In Alabama, 2 Bleak Firsts for the Population

In 2020, more deaths than births in the state, and the most total deaths ever in one year

(Newser) - Dr. Scott Harris, Alabama's chief health officer, recently asked his staff to pore over state mortality records, and his crew came back to him with two sobering numbers. In 2020, for the first time since the early 1900s, Alabama had more deaths than births, Harris announced Wednesday at a...

COVID Surge Worries Experts: 'Early Wave of a Lot of Suffering'

US death rate is back on the climb

(Newser) - In mid-April, the daily COVID-19 death toll in the US began to subside, thanks to shutdowns that helped flatten the virus curve. Now, sobering news from the Washington Post : That daily mortality rate has spiked this week, with more than 800 deaths across the nation daily over the past four...

New Stat Hints at a 'Demographic Time Bomb'
New Stat Hints at
a 'Demographic
Time Bomb'
THE RUNDOWN
Jan 17, 2020 9:42 AM CST

New Stat Hints at a 'Demographic Time Bomb'

Low birth rate, low death rate in China has researchers, economists there worried

(Newser) - There's a "looming crisis" brewing in China, one the New York Times says could eventually have a "seismic effect." Per the country's National Bureau of Statistics, about 14.6 million babies were born there last year, an almost 4% drop from 2018. It's the...

On Cancer Death Rate in the US, a Historic Dip

2.2% drop in 2017 is biggest single-year decline in mortality rate, helped along by lung cancer gains

(Newser) - Since 1930, the American Cancer Society has been tracking the cancer death rate in the US—the number of deaths per 100,000 people—and its latest report shows the biggest single-year drop ever: 2.2% in 2017, reports the Washington Post . That record one-year decline is tacked onto a...

'Bleak' New Report on Life Expectancy Is Out

More Americans are dying young

(Newser) - The Journal of the American Medical Association is out with a new report on US life expectancy and mortality rates that LiveScience calls "alarming" and the Washington Post calls "strikingly bleak": It found, among other things, that the highest relative jump in death rates from 2010 to 2017,...

In This State, a 'Mind-Boggling' Stat on Death Rates

WVa.'s drug OD rate has seen huge growth; US seeing record rates in 'deaths of despair' overall

(Newser) - Mortality rates in the US from drug overdoses, alcohol, and suicides have reached an all-time high, per a new report, and one region of the country is especially hard-hit. NBC News cites the survey from the Commonwealth Fund health advocacy group that takes a close look at 2017 data from...

American Lives Just Got a Month Shorter

US life expectancy falls for first time in 22 years

(Newser) - More than a month was slashed from an average American life in 2015, according to National Center for Health Statistics data. A person born in the US in 2015 can expect to live 78.8 years, compared to 78.9 years in 2014. Life expectancy also fell from 76.5...

Life Is Deadlier for Americans for the 1st Time in 10 Years

And we're making fewer new Americans to boot

(Newser) - Life was slightly deadlier for Americans in 2015 than it was in 2014. CNN reports the death rate for the US in 2015 was 729.5 deaths per 100,000 people. That's up from 723.2 deaths per 100,000 people in 2014. Those rates have been adjusted to...

Blacks Closing Gap on Whites in Life Expectancy

It was 3.4 years in 2014, smallest in history

(Newser) - The life expectancy gap between blacks and whites is now the smallest in history, falling from seven years in 1990 to 3.4 years in 2014. According to 2014 data, African-Americans have a life expectancy of 75.6 years, while whites average 79 years, reports the New York Times . "...

'Dark Day' for Pedestrians: Fastest Jump in Death Rate Ever

Fatalities expected to spike 10% from 2014 to 2015: GHSA report

(Newser) - Traffic fatalities increased 8.1% in 2015 from the previous year, per a National Safety Council study cited by Autoblog , but one group has been especially affected: pedestrians, who are projected to show a 10% increase in fatalities compared to 2014, per a report from the Governors Highway Safety Association....

Centenarians Not So Rare Anymore

Numbers spiked 44% from 2008 to 2014: CDC report

(Newser) - This should boost your hope for a long life, especially if you're a woman: The number of Americans living past 100 has spiked by 44% over the past six years. Centenarian numbers have risen from 15,000 in 1980 and 50,281 in 2000 to 72,197 in 2014,...

Death Rates for Babies Who Have Heart Surgery a Secret
Death Rates for Babies Who Have Heart Surgery a Secret
INVESTIGATION
Jun 2, 2015 4:38 PM CDT

Death Rates for Babies Who Have Heart Surgery a Secret

More than half the hospitals that do these procedures don't report, CNN finds

(Newser) - No parents would ever want their child to have heart surgery, but if it's necessary, at least they can go online and check out which hospitals have the best success rates, right? Not exactly, according to a CNN investigation , which finds that of the 109 hospitals countrywide that perform...

Argue More, Die Sooner
 Argue More, Die Sooner 
STUDY SAYS
May 9, 2014 3:21 AM CDT

Argue More, Die Sooner

Study links fighting too much to early death

(Newser) - If you find yourself in frequent conflict with friends, family members, or neighbors, you might be arguing yourself into an early grave, a new study finds. Researchers say middle-aged people who have frequent arguments are two to three times more likely to die prematurely, with those who often squabble with...

Stronger Economy Just Might Kill You
Stronger Economy
Just Might Kill You
study says
Oct 8, 2013 8:50 AM CDT

Stronger Economy Just Might Kill You

Study finds higher deaths in boom times among middle aged, elderly

(Newser) - A booming economy would seem to be good news all around, but a new study finds a strange thing: More middle-aged people and seniors tend to die in a strong economy than in a weak one, reports Medical News Today . Specifically, Netherlands researchers found that death rates in developed countries...

Living Alone Can Kill You
 Living Alone 
 Can Kill You 
Nov 19, 2011 10:42 AM CST

Living Alone Can Kill You

Death rate 21% higher for people under age 65 who live by themselves

(Newser) - Upside to living alone: Your leftover pizza won't go missing. Downside: You have a greater risk of dying, or so says a four-year study of 45,000 people from 29 countries. Researchers found that those living solo under age 65 had a 21% greater chance of dying; in their...

US Life Expectancy Hits Record High

Newborns can now look forward to 78.2 years of breathing

(Newser) - US life expectancy hit an all-time high in 2009, according to new government data released yesterday. A baby born that year can expect to live an average of 78.2 years, USA Today reports, up from 78 years in 2008. That’s in part because death rates fell significantly for...

People Flee Moscow as Death Rate Doubles

Some believe government covering up smoke's effects

(Newser) - People are leaving Moscow in droves, as smoke from surrounding wildfires chokes the city. The daily mortality rate has almost doubled from 360 or so to "around 700," the city’s top health official said yesterday, though he blamed the punishing heat wave, rather than the smoke. He...

Heart Attack Deaths Plummet 30%

Drop hailed as modern medical miracle, but disease still daunting

(Newser) - In what is being hailed as a medical miracle, deaths from heart attack and stroke have dropped nearly a third between 1999 and 2006, according to the latest statistics from the American Heart Association. Yet despite gains from better preventive medicine and more effective hospital treatment, one person still dies...

Cancer Cases, Deaths Drop
 Cancer Cases, Deaths Drop 
Nov 25, 2008 6:02 PM CST

Cancer Cases, Deaths Drop

Trend, ongoing since beginning of decade, linked to less smoking

(Newser) - Cancer researchers reported a good-news milestone today: Both the number of new cases and the number of cancer deaths are declining for the first time, USA Today reports. Scientists gave most of the credit to a drop in the number of smokers. “By preventing smoking, you can give someone...

US Cancer Deaths on the Rise
US Cancer Deaths on the Rise
Feb 20, 2008 12:00 PM CST

US Cancer Deaths on the Rise

But mortality rate is still dropping, doctors say

(Newser) - Cancer deaths in the US rose slightly in 2005, according to the American Cancer Society's latest report, but the news isn't all bad: the cancer mortality rate declined 1%, continuing the downward trend since the early 1990s, the Dallas Morning News reports. "As an aging population, we will see...

20 Stories
Most Read on Newser