Yay! Women's Life Expectancy Growing
Good news for women. More of us are living past 50. According to a story at The New York Times, "Life expectancy for women who live to age 50 is going up around the world, but poor and middle-income countries could easily make greater gains, according to a new World Health Organization report." Donald G. McNeil Jr. reports that, since "Heart disease, stroke and cancer kill most women over 50," according to Dr. John R. Beard, director of the W.H.O.'s department of aging, "Countries should focus on lowering blood pressure with inexpensive drugs and screening for cervical and breast cancer." Those diseases can be prevented or treated, McNeil quotes Dr. Beard, who was also an author of the study , which was published in the Bulletin of the World Health Organization. But we still have challenges ahead. Smoking, obesity and excessive drinking still kill many in their younger years. McNeil notes that Japanese women live longest, but women in most ...