Death rates fall, but suicides rise 2% in the States

US residents are living longer than ever before, according to a new government report filled mostly with good news. Life expectancy inched up again, and death rates fell.

Rates also dropped or held steady for nearly all the leading causes of death. The one exception: The suicide rate reached its highest point in 25 years.

That figure has been increasing since 2000, and "it's really hard to say why", said Robert Anderson, who oversees the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention branch that issued the report on Wednesday.

The yearly report looked at deaths in the US in 2012. It found:

�� Life expectancy for a child born in 2012 was 78 years and 9 months, up about six weeks from 2010 and 2011. That's a record.

�� For a person 65 years of age, the CDC estimates that men have about 18 years of life left and women about 20 years. The gap between men and women grew slightly, compared with 2011.

�� There were 2.5 million deaths in 2012, or about 28,000 more than the year before. The increase was expected, reflecting the nation's expanding older population, Anderson said.

�� The infant mortality rate dropped again slightly, to a new low of 5.98 per 1,000 births. That's a historic low, but infant mortality in the US continues to be higher than in most European countries.

�� Death rates for blacks and whites dropped but held steady for Hispanics. Hispanic death rates remain lower than the white and black numbers.

�� The 10 leading causes of death were unchanged, with heart disease and cancer topping the list. Suicide is 10th.

The suicide rate rose more than 2 percent to 12.6 suicide deaths per 100,000 people. That's the highest it's been since 1987, when the rate was 12.8.

Some research suggests that suicides increase during hard economic times, but the phenomenon was also seen before, during and after the recession of 2007-2009. Some experts have said the sale and abuse of prescription painkillers in the last decade have been contributing factors.

Whatever the reason, "it's kind of surprising", said Solveig Cunningham, an Emory University researcher who has studied death rates during eras of financial hardship.

The overall statistics suggest US society is getting better at medically managing conditions like diabetes and heart disease, she said. But maybe "we're not able to manage mental health as well, resulting in devastating results" - such as an increasing suicide rate - she said.

The CDC report compiles information from all US death certificates from 2012. Researchers use the death rates to project how long people will live.

(China Daily 10/09/2014 page10)