Last year, the death rate rose making 2017 the third straight year of decline in the American life expectancy rate, preliminary data suggests. On Wednesday, May 23rd, the Centers for Disease and Control posted numbers online that claim the death rates in America rose due to Alzheimer's Disease, diabetes, the flu, pneumonia, and three other causes.

A Dying Nation 

The full data is not yet available for suicides and drug overdoses, but partial-year statistics showed a rise in those statistics as well. Statistics also showed that there wasn't a change in the rates for heart disease which is the no. 1 killer in America. The CDC's National Center for Health Statistics' preliminary rates were based on the first-pass review of death certificates filed last year.

Usually, there are delays in filing paperwork for causes of death due to police involvement. A more conclusive report is expected at the end of the year that will include the numbers of death and a calculation of life expectancy, which is the average lifespan based on birth and current death trends. 

Over the years, the life expectancy increased, but 2016 was the second year that the life expectancy dropped in the United States, which has only occurred twice in the last century. Health officials have stated that there was one three-year decline in the years 1916, 1917, and 1918. Experts note that these are the years when the world's worst flu epidemic occurred.

Anne Case, a Princeton University researcher, commented that it seems "likely" that the nation has tied with the previous statistics. Case has also conducted influential work on deaths in middle-aged white Americans, which include drug overdose, suicides, and alcohol abuse. 

The Brighter Side

Case continued that the overall death rate rose a little less than 1 percent to 734 deaths per 100,000 people. The rate dipped slightly in 2016 despite the recorded number of deaths, therefore rise in deaths in 2017 is more of a reason to expect that life expectancy will continue to get worse.

Despite this current epidemic, the good news is that the death rate for cancer continues to drop. Cancer, which is considered the nation's second "killer," fell 2 percent in 2016. The heart disease rate also fell. However, the percentage it dropped to was 0.3 percent.

Experts believe that the nation's growing obesity rate could be one of the major factors in heart disease rate decline. Death rates attributed to HIV and blood infections also declined.