A Medical Device Daily

Preliminary numbers for 2005 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Atlanta) indicate that life expectancy in the U.S. continues to nudge upward, with CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) reporting that life expectancy “at birth for the total population in 2005 reached a record high of 77.9 years.” The most conspicuous improvements in mortality by disease category were for heart disease and cerebrovascular disease.

However, neurological diseases and diseases of the lower respiratory system almost completely offset those improvements.

The NCHS report said that the preliminary number-crunch for 2005 “puts life expectancy in the U.S. at nearly 78 years, a figure that has been increasing steadily over the last 50 years.” This life expectancy figure was one-10th of a year of life expectancy greater than in 2004.

Life expectancy in 1955 was 69.6 years and in 1995 75.8 years, according to NCHS.

The total number of deaths from “diseases of the heart” in 2005 was just under 650,000, and the age-adjusted death rate for this category fell 3.1%, from 217 to 210.3 per 100,000 people. In comparison, cancer took the lives of slightly less than 560,000, but the drop in the age-adjusted mortality rate for cancer fell only 1.1% to 183.8 per 100,000 in 2005.

Cerebrovascular disease, including stroke, came in as the third leading cause of death in the U.S., taking the lives of about 144,000 annually.

Treatments for this category have apparently had a huge impact if the decline of 6.8% in age-adjusted mortality is any indication — from 50 per 100,000 to 46.6 per 100,000.

The life expectancy number is calculated as the year in which a child is born, to the year he or she is expected to live to, on average. Any comparison to life expectancy of those who had already reached adulthood in 2005 would look different, because overall expectancy at birth takes into account the deaths that will occur in infancy, childhood and adolescence.

Hsiang-Ching Kung, PhD, a survey statistician at NCHS, told Medical News Today that the declines in mortality from the three most deadly disease groups in the U.S., heart disease, cancer and stroke are “most likely due to better prevention efforts and medical advances in the treatments of these diseases. “If death rates from certain leading causes of death continue to decline, we should continue to see improvements in life expectancy,” he added.

Other declining causes of mortality occurred in the “self harm” category, at 2.8%, and liver disease, including cirrhosis, at 1.1%.

The most conspicuous increases in mortality were charted for chronic lower respiratory diseases at an increase in the age-adjusted death rate of 5.1%, while deaths from Alzheimer’s grew by 5%. Another neurocognitive disorder, Parkinson’s disease, also registered a substantial up-tick of 4.9% in 2005.

Several interesting demographic changes also showed up, but the question of whether these represent a trend cannot yet be answered.

The NCHS numbers show that life expectancy for whites was flat between 2004 and 2005 at age 78.3, but for African Americans, expectancy rose from 73.1 in 2004 to 73.2 in 2005. The gap between women and men also closed, with women expected to outlive men on average by 5.2 years, “the smallest gap since 1946,” according to the report.

The report also says that the preliminary estimate for infant mortality “went up from 6.79 [deaths] per 1,000 live births in 2004 to 6.89 in 2005, but this was not thought to be statistically significant.” Sudden infant death syndrome ranked third among causes of infant mortality, a category led by birth defects and low birth weight.

In 2005, infant mortality rates for African American babies (13.69 deaths per 1,000 live births) was still much higher than for the demographic catch-all of white babies (5.76), but the rate for white babies actually rose from 5.66 the previous year whereas black infant mortality fell from 13.79. Aggregate infant mortality in 2005 registered at 6.89 per 1,000 lives births.

FDA chief counsel leaves for private practice

FDA reported earlier this week that the associate general counsel for the “Food and Drug Division” at the Department of Health and Human Services has worked his last day at the agency. Sheldon Bradshaw’s last day was the date of the announcement, Sept. 12, and Jeffrey Senger, deputy associate general counsel, will fill the role until a permanent replacement is appointed.

Bradshaw “joined HHS as Associate General Counsel for the Food and Drug Division in April 2005,” the FDA said, and he provided “legal advice to FDA’s senior leadership on a number of significant policy matters, including the agency’s drug and food safety initiatives.”

He also is credited with formulating “the legal basis for numerous regulations and guidances critical to the agency’s vital public health mission,” including drug and biologic products labeling rules and making FDA’s case in legal action.

FDA chief Andrew von Eschenbach said that he has “greatly appreciated Sheldon’s wise legal counsel, steadfast support and tireless dedication, and [we] wish him well as he returns to the private sector.”

Bradshaw switched to the FDA post in 2005 from the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice, and expectations were that he would be less controversial than his predecessor, Daniel Troy, whose previous experience in the pharmaceutical industry raised eyebrows. According to pharmalot.com, Bradshaw has taken a job at the law firm of Hunton & Williams (Richmond, Virginia), whose client portfolio includes biotech and pharmaceutical firms.