Medical Discovery News
Science permeates everyday life. Yet the understanding of advances in biomedical science is limited at best. Few people make the connection that biomedical science is medicine and that biomedical scientists are working today for the medicine of tomorrow. Our weekly five-hundred-word newspaper column (http://www.illuminascicom.com/) and two-minute radio show provide insights into a broad range of biomedical science topics. Medical Discovery News is dedicated to explaining discoveries in biomedical research and their promise for the future of medicine. Each release is designed to stimulate listeners to think, question and appreciate how science affects their health as well as that of the rest of the world. We also delve into significant biomedical discoveries and portray how science (or the lack of it) has impacted health throughout history.
Medical Discovery News
Life Expectancy – We Have Come a Long Way
Life Expectancy, We Have Come a Long Way
Welcome to Medical Discovery News. I’m Dr Norbert Herzog.
And I’m Dr. David Niesel
As science has advanced, so has life expectancy, but in parts of the world including the US, that number fell during the pandemic. So has our lifespan rebounded since then?
It has. But, first consider that a child born in nineteen hundred could only expect to live thirty-two years. In just over a century, the average had more than doubled to seventy-one years in twenty-twenty-one.
But when you zoom in, there are major regional differences. Newborns in Africa live to just sixty two years on average while in the Americas, it’s about seventy-five years and in Europe, nearly seventy-eight years.
Now back to the pandemic. In twenty-nineteen, just before the pandemic, life expectancy in the Americas peaked at about seventy-seven, then tumbled two years during the pandemic, and quickly recovered by a year shortly after.
The biggest driver in longevity has been improvements in health. Over the past century, vaccines drove down childhood death rates, new drugs extended the lives of people with chronic diseases such as heart disease, life-saving antibiotics and antivirals protected against infections.
We also overlook improvements in our public health systems that provide us with clean water, better air quality, and generally better sanitation.
Improvements in our standard of living, the reduction in the poverty rate and vibrant economy also play a positive role. Although we still have a way to reach equity, it’s an achievement to reflect on.
We are Drs. David Niesel and Norbert Herzog, at UTMB and Quinnipiac University, where biomedical discoveries shape the future of medicine. For much more and our disclaimer go to medicaldiscoverynews.com or subscribe to our podcast. Sign up for expanded print episodes at www.illuminascicom.com
