We're Living Longer Than Previous Generations But Not Healthier

While the average lifespan of those who reach adulthood has continued to rise those years spent living without health issues have not kept pace. From 1970 to 2005, the probability of a 65-year-old surviving to age 85 doubled, from about a 20 percent chance to a 40 percent chance and the presumption was that the same changes allowing people to live longer, including medical advances, would delay the onset of disease and allow people to spend fewer years of their lives with debilitating illness. Instead, a 20-year-old today can expect to live one less healthy year over his or her life span than a 20-year-old a decade ago. What gives? read more

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