A new report by the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention says that there is a significant gap in life expectancies between the black and white populations in America.
Researchers have noticed a significant gap between the life expectancy of people from different races, especially blacks and white. In a 2010 study, the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention revealed that life expectancy for the black population was 3.8 years lower than that of the white population. This gap has narrowed from 7.6 years in 1970. However, more work needs to be done to remove racial disparities with regards to life expectancy, researchers of the study stated.
A similar report released today by the organization stated that while Americans overall are living longer than in the 1970s, whites born in 2010 are expected to live to 78.9 years, while blacks will make it to 75.1 years.
"If the decline rate continues, the disparity will keep getting smaller, which would be great," said Kenneth D. Kochanek, the study's lead researcher from the Atlanta-based CDC's National Center for Health Statistics in a press release. "But we have no way of knowing yet."
White women are known to have the highest life expectancy (81.1)among Americans, living up to 10 years more than black men who have the lowest. Hispanic women although have a slightly higher life expectancy at birth at 83.7 years.
The large number of deaths among the black population was caused because of heart disease, cancer, homicide, diabetes and childbirth conditions, giving the black population a 60 percent disadvantage over the white population. These factors contributed majorly to making the life expectancy gap between the two races all the more persistent.
Heart disease shortens life expectancy by at least a year. According to an American Heart Association report, heart disease is the number one killer in America, causing deaths of over 600,000 people in the U.S. every year. The country spends $108.9 billion each year on treatments for this disease.
