Longevity In The United States

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Longevity is the number of years that a person can expect to live; longevity is determined by both genetic and environmental factors. Researchers have identified three different types of longevity: average life expectancy, useful life expectancy, and maximum life expectancy (Kail and Cavanaugh, 2013). Average life expectancy, also known as median life expectancy, is the age at which half of the people born in a particular year will have died (Kail and Cavanaugh, 2013). The current average life expectancy for women in the United States is 80.4 years; for men it is 75.4 (National Center for Health Statistics, 2010c). The average life expectancy has risen over the last century in the United States because there has been a large decrease in infant mortality as well as a decrease in the number of women that have died during childbirth. With better medical technology, there has also been an elimination of many major diseases (Kail and Cavanaugh, 2013). …show more content…
One could only hope that their useful life expectancy would match the length of their life (Kail and Cavanaugh, 2013). With all of the advances in medical technology, people may live for years without being able to perform their daily tasks on their own (Kail and Cavanaugh, 2013), such as brushing their teeth or even using the bathroom on their own. That would be a very depressing life to live. When it comes to making medical decisions, people are more focused on useful life expectancy rather than the number of years a person will live (Kail and Cavanaugh,