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Life expectancies decrease for black men, white women in Delaware

  A report from the Centers for Disease Control released this week shows that life expectancy for white women has dropped for the first time since the government began tracking these numbers.

 

Between 2013 and 2014, the life expectancy for non-Hispanic females nationwide decreased by one month, from 81.2 years to 81.1 years.

 

Data from the Delaware Health Statistics Center shows the life expectancy of white women in the First State dropped by the same amount during that period.

 

Black men saw the biggest jump in life expectancy from 2013 to 2014, According to the CDC report.

 

During that time period, the life expectancy of non-Hispanic black males nationwide increased by nearly half a year, from 71.8 years to 72.2 years.  

 

In Delaware, however, the life expectancy of black men decreased by more than three quarters of a year.

 

The leading cause of death for both white women and black men is cancer, which has been on a downward trend in Delaware. Those deaths are down five percent from 2006 to 2012.

 

Deaths from heart disease have also decreased. They’re down more than 25 percent.

 

During this same period, drug overdose deaths in Delaware increased by more than 60 percent.  

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