The Decline of Life Expectancy

The Decline of Life Expectancy.
For the first time in over two decades, our life expectancy is on the decline.  According to the CDC, the number of years an American is expected to live has decreased by 0.1 year from 2014 to 2015.  It seems that heart disease and cancer top the charts for the #1 and #2 causes of death.  Truly devastating if you ask me.  These top killers are normally preventable!  So, what's happening?

Heart disease and most types of cancers are self-inflicted.  The common risk factors for both are smoking, overweight/obesity, poor dietary choices, and physical inactivity.    (Heart Disease, Cancer)  Yep, most of the time, we can prevent these killer diseases, but even if we choose not to take care of ourselves (because eating crap food while watching tv is awesome), why can't the medical world save us?

We always hear about all the medical advances that are being made...every.single.day.  What we don't hear is how they're missing the boat on treating diseases.  Think about this.  The medical world is advancing by leaps and bounds when it comes to "repairing" our bodies.  For example, they are really good at attaching body parts, transplants, sewing things up, killing infections, etc.  Truly super-human!  Now, let's look for a second at how the medical world is advancing in treating diseases.  Or maybe we shouldn't, because it's depressing.  Our medical world today can put us back together, but they haven't figured out how to treat diseases, like heart disease and cancer.

Everyone is always asking the question, "why can't they cure cancer"?  A great theory, but cancer is not just one disease, it's hundreds of diseases that are complex in each variety.  Curing "cancer" is unlikely, but the medical world has come up with ways to keep certain cancers at bay, or should I say let you live longer?  Although, I don't agree with chemotherapy (which, in reality, is poison to the body) and radiation (which causes cancer) as they have NEVER been meant to be a cure for cancer, however, if it can help you live longer, it might be a good choice for you.

Let's stop praying for cures/treatments, donating all our hard-earned money for research, and start to really do something about it!  Invest more time and money into your health.  Yes, living a healthy livestyle sucks.  It takes a lot of work and dedication to make it happen.  But it's up to you, not the medical world, to ensure you live a long/healthy life.

Your life expectancy depends on you.  Your childrens' life expectancy depends on what you teach them.  We'll progressively see life expectancy decrease if we continue to make poor lifestyle choices and pray for the "cure".  We all have access to the cure, so start making healthy choices today - your life expectancy depends on it!

Need help on where to start on making healthy lifestyle choices?  I can help, contact me today.