American life expectancy is decreasing

The most important story you’ll read today on the U.S. It’s all there and should be considered an emergency.

Scientists warned a decade ago American lives were shortening. Then it got worse : Shots – Health News : NPR https://t.co/5apyvwJhdO
— Sherrilyn Ifill (@SIfill_) March 26, 2023

Americans’ life expectancy is plummeting. The graphic is stunning.

“American life expectancy is lower than that of Cuba, Lebanon, and Chechnya.”#MedTwitter https://t.co/2GX3zRgFhE pic.twitter.com/6NxbO01VBr
— Art Walaszek (@artwalaszek) March 25, 2023

NEW: I’m not sure people fully appreciate how dire the US life expectancy / mortality situation has got.

My column: https://t.co/dBIhT9eZLv

And some utterly damning charts.

1) at *every* point on the income distribution, Americans live shorter lives than the English. pic.twitter.com/pOoziEK5mZ
— John Burn-Murdoch (@jburnmurdoch) March 31, 2023

Things have deteriorated so much that the average American now has the same healthy life expectancy (years lived in good health) as someone in Blackpool, the town with England’s lowest life expectancy (by far), synonymous with deep-rooted social decline https://t.co/jicW0G4Uz4 pic.twitter.com/pPSzcFofh3
— John Burn-Murdoch (@jburnmurdoch) March 31, 2023

This is so, so awful. “This is the first time in my career that I've ever seen [an increase in pediatric mortality] – it's always been declining in the United States… Now, it's increasing at a magnitude that has not occurred at least for half a century." https://t.co/R8MLPoprj2
— Dr Kathleen Bachynski (@bachyns) March 25, 2023

Tweets on decline us US life expectancy

Americans’ life expectancy is plummeting. The graphic is stunning.

“American life expectancy is lower than that of Cuba, Lebanon, and Chechnya.”#MedTwitter https://t.co/2GX3zRgFhE pic.twitter.com/6NxbO01VBr
— Art Walaszek (@artwalaszek) March 25, 2023

The deeply disturbing decline in U.S. life expectancy continues: 78.8 in 2019 to 76.1 in 2021. What's not highlighted here are the unsettling disparities in life expectancy by race/ethnicity 👇 The need for transformational policymaking is now. https://t.co/DjXtxhDyfI pic.twitter.com/UKQ97uA7qR
— Jason Jurjevich (@JasonJurjevich) March 27, 2023

“Two years difference in life expectancy probably comes from the fact that firearms are so available in the United States.” https://t.co/YyUY951sKv
— Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) March 26, 2023

Tweets about anti-vax misinformation

“We’ve forgotten how many people have died, have been sick or continue to get sick from COVID-19 as well as many other vaccine-preventable diseases,” a group of health experts said as they proposed three ways to counteract the false narrative.https://t.co/6xQlclxFNO
— MarketWatch (@MarketWatch) March 3, 2023

I am worried on two fronts here. First is that we could get some anti-VAX white supremacists and insurrectionists Joining because they don’t have to be vaccinated. Second, as more variants & other viruses emerge, we could have devastating outbreaks threatening national security. https://t.co/qx6sOEyoDA
— Norman Ornstein (@NormOrnstein) December 16, 2022

The alliance of alternative healers and libertarians gave fresh life to what had been a tiny, fringe anti-vax movement. Indeed, around 2010, the health-freedom surge began transforming anti-vax views into a core right-wing value. https://t.co/F35QV3BEXc
— The New Republic (@newrepublic) March 1, 2023

80 of 85 Ohio children who got measles were unvaccinated

The anti-vax movement has spread way beyond COVID-19

The measles outbreak in Ohio was solely in unvaccinated children, mostly young. Out of 85 cases, 36 were hospitalized. https://t.co/1EpzbmFkta

SSPE yet to be determined. #vaccines #vaccineswork
— (((Dorit Reiss))) (@doritmi) February 23, 2023

Health officials are warning that people who attended the weekslong spiritual revival event at Asbury University in Wilmore, Kentucky, on February 18, may have been exposed to measles https://t.co/J9taed246r
— CNN (@CNN) February 25, 2023

Tweets on Black maternal mortality

Racism in health care

Killing the Black body: A new study shows that childbirth is deadlier for even wealthy Black families. via @NYTimes https://t.co/3zyKK6WXeH
— Brent Staples (@BrentNYT) February 12, 2023

Thank you @EricaLG for this important @nytimes piece on a St. Louis doula program, part of a nonprofit that received funding in the $1.7 trillion federal budget bill, by focusing on a benefit largely associated with affluent white women.https://t.co/HNxOa8qTtI
— uché blackstock, md (@uche_blackstock) January 19, 2023

After years of anti-choicers keening about abortion being Black genocide, it turns out abortion bans are Black genocide. https://t.co/ZSverepGYZ
— 🤌🏾 Imani Gandy 👆🏾 (@AngryBlackLady) January 11, 2023

Sobering new data from the last few years showing the U.S. maternal mortality rate continues to exceed that of other high-income countries.

This horrifyingly high rate is driven especially by the deaths of Black birthing people. pic.twitter.com/KPPAq0uywK
— uché blackstock, md (@uche_blackstock) December 4, 2022

NEW: Reporter @deldeib of @propublica has been writing about stillbirths all this year. Here's her latest, on how racial disparities touch this part of America's healthcare system.
Tough, sensitive reporting and lovely writing.https://t.co/9DlCV3ZX2q
— Steve Mills (@smmills1960) December 27, 2022

If wealthy Black moms are dying in childbirth when they can afford the best of care, I don't want to think about the fate of middle class & low income Black mothers. Having a child is the most natural part of the human experience. It shouldn't be a death sentence for Black women https://t.co/5wsdFjD9pK
— Ameshia Cross (@AmeshiaCross) February 6, 2023

Death rates are higher in areas that elect Republicans

The toxicity of partisan politics is fueling an overall increase in mortality rates for working-age Americans, new studies show.https://t.co/mIeoYnsaQ4
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) December 16, 2022

It's not just COVID — the mortality gap between Republican-voting areas and Democratic-voting areas has been growing since at least 2001. "Politics and polarization do have life-and-death consequences" https://t.co/UetK0aqQSe via @sciam
— Laura Helmuth (@laurahelmuth) July 19, 2022

"The mortality gap in Republican voting counties compared with Democratic voting counties has grown over time, especially for white populations, and that gap began to widen after 2008."

NEW research: https://t.co/I7ivF4cDNm
— The BMJ (@bmj_latest) June 11, 2022

Russians are anti-vaxxers like some extremist Republicans

Sure seems like the GOP is very much like Russia. They’re both big on spreading disinformation. DeSantis is pushing anti-vax stuff since the MAGA cult likes it and it makes him more extreme than Trump.

As we all consider the descent of DeSantis into anti-vaxx madness, a reminder that undermining vaccines has been a central goal of Russian disinfo in the US for years.

Am sure it is just a coincidence. https://t.co/pLX2WUtVDx
— Simon Rosenberg (@SimonWDC) December 15, 2022

Measles, polio reemerge in U.S. as COVID-19 vaccine uproar supercharges anti-vaxx movement – My comments and interview ⁦@WashTimes⁩ https://t.co/5nSf3nEr5N
— Prof Peter Hotez MD PhD (@PeterHotez) October 17, 2022

Opinion: Tucker Carlson's vaccine rant should be called out by every reputable news organization – CNNj https://t.co/8Xa6AB8tNl
— Brian J. Karem (@BrianKarem) December 19, 2020

Anti-vaxxers and alt-right groups team up to stoke fears on COVID-19 vaccines https://t.co/B7C1Hew4AY
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) December 18, 2020

Last month an antivax propaganda film @DiedSuddenly was released. it's so bad that #COVID19 cranks are pushing back. Hilarity is ensuing. https://t.co/xNdAcgMVXv
— David Gorski, MD, PhD (@gorskon) December 7, 2022

Musk getting the old antivax gang back together again. pic.twitter.com/FGtQusYrcE
— James Surowiecki (@JamesSurowiecki) December 14, 2022

Antivaxx Facebook groups share talking points they think work with family members and friends, including articles on junky natural news sites saying that say outlandish stuff about the vaccine.

It's not about persuading people in the group. It's an ammo dump in the IRL infowar. https://t.co/SBk5RuGtky
— Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) July 22, 2021

Health insurance coverage compared to political views by state

Yes, red states have fewer people covered. Some have even turned down Medicaid expansion even though the fderal government would pay for most of it,

This picture is a pretty good litmus test for politics pic.twitter.com/jm9PCq5f9t
— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) November 26, 2022

Florida seniors have the worst medical debt in the US. Back when Congress passed the Affordable Care Act, it allowed states to expand Medicaid. Florida is one of 11 states that have not allowed that even as the federal government would pay 90% of the costs https://t.co/59Ljstj2NX
— Lesley Abravanel 🪩 (@lesleyabravanel) November 29, 2022

Republican counties have higher mortality rates

Republican Counties Have Higher Mortality Rates Than Democratic Ones, Study Finds https://t.co/73hICDUiOc pic.twitter.com/PYnz4scDob
— Forbes (@Forbes) June 7, 2022

Anti-smoking commercials

The one I remember is from the 1960s with William Talman who had been on the Perry Mason TV program and who died soon after the commercial was filmed. This tweet reminded me of the commercials

We didn’t know how bad smoking was until the Surgeon General’s report in 1964. I had pot before tobacco. I only smoked about 15-20 cigarettes ever and never bought a pack.

This Star Wars anti-smoking PSA ran in heavy rotation from 1980 through 1988 and features C-3PO convincing R2-D2 to quit smoking as a way to set a good example for humans. Many remember this commercial fondly and consider it to be a true 80's classic. Pure nostalgia, folks! pic.twitter.com/ek2sYBGz4K
— Ghosty's Classic Movies™ 👻 (@GhostysMovies) September 14, 2022