Medscape December 23, 2024
COVID-19 continues to retreat from being a top cause of death in the US, and in turn, life expectancy last year rebounded further toward pre-pandemic longevity.
New CDC data suggest that people born in 2023 are predicted to live to age 78.4, which is nearly an entire year longer than the prediction for babies born in 2022. Life expectancy hasn’t fully rebounded, though. In 2019 — before the pandemic — life expectancy was 78.8 years.
COVID is now the 10th leading cause of death, down from a fourth-place ranking in 2022. Heart disease remains the top cause of death, followed by cancer. All of the top 10 causes of death in 2023 were also in the top 10 the year...