Life Expectancy In The US: What 3 Things Are Keeping Americans From Having A Longer Life?

Have you ever wondered why many developed countries have higher life expectancy compared to the U.S.? Statistics show that there are three reasons for this phenomenon.

According to CBS News, a research -- using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention -- shows that guns, drugs and cars are some of the main reasons why Americans have lower life expectancy compared to many developed countries. Although diseases and ailments are usually the focus when studying life expectancy, the research says that the three aforementioned causes contribute to the deaths of young people and many decades of life that have been lost.

"Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show injuries including violence, car crashes and drug poisonings and overdoses are the leading cause of deaths for Americans up to the age of 44," the article shared. In these three categories, the U.S. exceed the death rates from 12 other developed countries such as "Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom," according to the article.

The 2012 life expectancy for males in the developed countries mentioned was 78.6 years compared to the 76.4 years in the U.S. For the females, the life expectancy in the countries mentioned was 83.4 years compared to the 81.2 years in the U.S.

For gun deaths among males, the U.S. had 18.4 deaths for every 100,000 males compared to only 1 per 100,000 in the countries mentioned. For female deaths related to drug use, the U.S. had 10 deaths for every 100,000 females compared with only 2 per 100,000 in the countries mentioned.

"If we brought mortality from car crashes, firearm injuries and drug poisonings down to levels that we see in these other countries, we'd gain about a year of life expectancy," lead author Andrew Fenelon told CBS News.

Best Health shared some simple ways to have a longer life expectancy. Being physically active, eating more fish, intake of supplements, getting a pet, stop smoking, stimulating the mind and socializing with other people are some of the best ways to have a longer life. And based on the findings of the research about life expectancy in the U.S., Americans might have a longer life through responsible gun use, staying away from locations with high crime rates, avoiding illegal drugs and always driving safely and defensively on the road.