Life expectancy declining for some American women.

"For the first time since the Spanish influenza of 1918, life expectancy is falling for a significant number of American women," according to a study published in PLoS Medicine. Lead author Christopher J.L. Murray, M.D., a physician and epidemiologist at the University of Washington, and colleagues at the Harvard School of Public Health. Women seem to learn slowly from the adverse behavior of men. While the survey cannot pin direct cause and effect to these results, the public health community has seen the excess of obesity, smoking, minimal exercise, poor diet and the adverse effects of increasing urbanization upon the population. To change these outcomes it will be necessary to change the infrastructure of the social support system, instead of maintaining the current barriers between health, social service, mental health, primary care and nutrition programs.