"ATLANTA — For the first time, U.S. life expectancy has surpassed 78
years, the government reported Wednesday.

The increase is due mainly to falling mortality rates in almost all
the leading causes of death, federal health officials said. The
average life expectancy for babies born in 2006 was about four months
greater than for children born in 2005.

However, the United States continues to lag behind about 30 other
countries in estimated life span, according to World Health
Organization data.

Japan is No. 1 on the list, with a life expectancy of 83 for children
born in 2006. Switzerland and Australia were also near the top of the
list.

"The international comparisons are not that appealing, but we may be
in the process of catching up," said Samuel Preston, a University of
Pennsylvania demographer. He is co-chair of a National Research
Council panel looking at why America's life expectancy is lower than
other nations'.

The new U.S. data, released Wednesday, come from the National Center
for Health Statistics. It's a preliminary report of 2006 numbers,
based on data from more than 95 percent of the death certificates
collected that year.

Life expectancy is the period a child born in 2006 is expected to
live, assuming the mortality trends observed in that year stay
constant.

The 2006 increase is due mainly to falling mortality rates for nine of
the 15 leading causes of death, including heart disease, cancer,
accidents and diabetes.

"I think the most surprising thing is that we had declines in just
about every major cause of death," said Robert Anderson, who oversaw
work on the report for the health statistics center.

Health statisticians noted declines of more than 6 percent in stroke
and chronic lower respiratory disease (including bronchitis and
emphysema), and a drop of more than 5 percent in heart disease and
diabetes deaths. Indeed, the drop in diabetes deaths was steep enough
to allow Alzheimer's disease — which held about steady — to pass
diabetes to become the nation's sixth leading cause of death.

The U.S. infant mortality rate dropped more than 2 percent, to 6.7
infant deaths per 1,000 births, from 6.9.

Perhaps the most influential factor in the 2006 success story,
however, was the flu. Flu and pneumonia deaths dropped by 13 percent
from 2005, reflecting a mild flu season in 2006, Anderson said. That
also meant a diminished threat to people with heart disease and other
conditions. Taken together, it's a primary explanation for the 22,000
fewer deaths in 2006 from 2005, experts said.

U.S. life expectancy has been steadily rising, usually by about two to
three months from year to year. This year's jump of fourth months is
"an unusually rapid improvement," Preston said.

Life expectancy was up for both men and women, and whites and blacks.
Although the gaps are closing, white women continue to have the
highest life expectancy (81 years), followed by black women (about 77
years), white men (76) and black men (70). Health statisticians said
they don't have reliable data to calculate Hispanic life expectancy,
but they hope to by next year.

Increases in female smoking are a major reason that men's life
expectancy is catching up with the women's, Preston said. Improvements
in the care of heart disease — a major health problem for black
Americans — helps explain an improving racial gap, he said.

About 2.4 million Americans died in 2006, according to the report."

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