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Life expectancy in the United States has started to rebound after historic drops earlier in the Covid-19 pandemic, but it’s far from recovering. In 2022, a 1.1-year increase brought overall life expectancy at birth to 77.5 years, according to provisional data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But that offsets less than half of the 2.4 years of life lost in the first two years of the Covid-19 pandemic, and life expectancy is still lower than it’s been in about 20 years. (McPhillips, 11/29)

Drug overdoses, homicides and chronic illnesses such as heart disease continue to drive a long-term mortality crisis that has made this country an outlier in longevity among wealthy nations. ... The United States has dug itself into a huge life-expectancy hole, and not just because of the virus that slipped into the country in stealth fashion in 2020. In articles this year, The Washington Post has explored the many reasons this country lags peer nations in life expectancy, and a major finding is that chronic conditions such as heart disease, obesity, diabetes and cancer play an underappreciated role in suppressing life spans. (Achenbach and Keating, 11/29)

Life expectancy is now “what it was 20 years ago,” said Elizabeth Arias, a health scientist and statistician who co-authored the report released Wednesday. (Santhanam, 11/29)

A new study published in Nature Food found that sustaining a healthier diet can increase life expectancy to 10 years. The study analyzed the lifespan projections for 467,354 individuals who recorded their dietary patterns as part of UK Biobank research that started in 2006. Each participant was put into a group depending on their eating patterns. “The model found that people in their 40s who switched their unhealthy diet to a longevity-associated diet could add about 10 years to their life expectancy,” per Business Insider. “The change was associated with an extra 10.8 years for women and 10.4 years for men.” (Pitts, 11/27)