Drugs/Therapy

Middle Aged White American Experience Increased Death Rates

By Kanika Gupta | Update Date: Nov 09, 2015 09:14 AM EST

According to a recent study, there has been a significant increase in the number of deaths in middle-aged white Americans in the last 15 years. This shocking fact comes at a time when nearly all the Americans of all age groups and ethnicity have reported fewer cases of deaths. The death rate of white Americans falling in the age group of 45-54 years has increased by half a percent each year between 1999 and 2013, say researchers at the Princeton University after reviewing the mortality data from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In the last two decades, the death rate reported for this group has been reduced by 2% each year. Anne Case, professor of Economics and Public Affairs at Princeton University said, "We have come to expect mortality rates in middle age to continue to decline, which they did throughout most of the 20th century...it was really a surprise to see a sustained period when mortality rates actually increased (among middle-aged white Americans)", reports CNN.

As per the federal researchers, there has been a bothersome increase in number of suicides and deaths from drug overdose. Most of these deaths have been reported for white middle aged people. The Princeton researchers took the data from the government department and broke it down as per age and race to come up with this conclusion, reports 6 ABC Action News.

As reported by BBC News, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data that was used in the study revealed that the white middle-aged people in America are committing suicide at an alarming rate. Joshua Sharfstein, professor of Public Health at John Hopkins University told BBC, "[Increased mortality rates] really do show a growth disparity in health that reflects a growing disparity in wealth, it's more than a collection of anecdotes."

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