"AMERICANS ARE LIVING LONGER BUT SICKER LIVES" A disturbing analysis of mortality and morbidity was recently published in the Journal of Gerontology. Are we living longer? Yes. But are those extra healthy years? No. And it's worse than that! We're actually living fewer healthy years than we used to. A 20-year old woman in 1998 could expect to live about...60 more years, whereas a 20-year old in 2006 could look forward to 61 more years. So we gained a year. Great! And same with men. The 20-year old in the 90's though, would only live about 10 or 11 of those years with a serious disease, whereas closer to now it's more like 12 or 13 with a serious disease. So we live a year longer, but we come down with a serious disease, like stroke, cancer, diabetes, two years earlier. So it's like one step forward, two steps back. They also measured one's ability to function. In the study, you were considered disabled if you couldn't walk 1/4 mile, couldn't walk up 10 steps, couldn't stand or sit for two hours without having to lie down or couldn't stand, bend, or kneel without using special equipment. Using those criteria we live one year longer, but in less than just one decade we not only have more years with serious disease, but more years unable to function. So we're living longer in sickness not in health, a longer life-span, but shorter health-span.