美国人的预期寿命在不断下降，为什么？

“美国人的平均寿命，并没有跟其他富裕国家保持同一节奏，而是在下降。”

这一严峻的结论来自一份新的研究报告，作出此报告的是弗吉尼亚联邦大学医学院的研究者们。

这是试图解开美国人平均寿命下降之谜的最新一份报告。研究者们提到，自2014年以来，美国人平均寿命开始下降（2017年时平均值为78.6岁，而2016年时是78.9岁）。

这似乎只是短时的变化，但实际上是严重的下降——尤其考虑到最近50年来美国人的平均寿命是持续增加的。

那么是什么导致了这种悲剧的趋势呢？研究者们指出了一些潜在的罪魁祸首：过度使用药物、自杀和器官系统病变（比如影响心肺的器官紊乱，或可能导致如糖尿病等症状的病变）。

根据研究显示，这种早期死亡率的高发，还集中在特定人群，尤其是年轻人和中年人。并且相对死亡率升高最严重的地区是俄亥俄山谷和新英格兰（这些地区阿片类药物成瘾问题严重）。

这些地区的公共健康开支显然难以为继。而真实生命的逝去，是一场灾难。（财富中文网）

译者：宣峰

“U.S. life expectancy has not kept pace with that of other wealthy countries and is now decreasing.”

That grim conclusion comes from a new study by researchers from the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine.

It’s the latest study attempting to unravel the mystery of falling U.S. life expectancy. As the researchers note, life expectancy has seen a dropoff since 2014 (it stood at about 78.6 years, on average, in 2017 compared with 78.9 years in 2016).

That may read like a blip, but it’s a serious decline—especially considering that life expectancy had consistently grown over the previous 50 years.

So what’s causing this tragic trend? The researchers point to a number of potential culprits: Drug overdoses, suicides, and organ system diseases (the kinds of disorders affecting the heart and lungs, or potentially linked with conditions such as diabetes).

This early mortality spike is also concentrated among certain groups, according to the study, especially younger and middle-aged people. And the largest relative mortality increases have occurred in the Ohio Valley and New England (regions that have had to grapple with opioid addiction).

The public health costs here are clearly unsustainable. The literal loss of life is a catastrophe.