Americans today live roughly twice as long, on average, as they did when the Declaration of Independence was signed.When the nation was founded in 1776, life expectancy was around 35 to 40 years old, historians estimate.However, someone who survived childhood in colonial America often lived into their 60s or even 70s.Today, the average lifespan is about 79 years old, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.FILTERED WATER AT SPECIFIC AGES COULD ADD MONTHS TO YOUR LIFESPAN DECADES LATER, NEW STUDY FINDSThe improvement in lifespan over the centuries has been largely attributed to reduced deaths in infancy and from infectious diseases, multiple researchers have stated.
Advances in sanitation, clean water, nutrition, vaccination and medical care have also contributed to lower mortality rates."Much of this vast discrepancy is related to the extremely high rates of infant, childhood and maternal mortality," Dr.Omer Awan, physician and professor at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, told Fox News Digital.Americans today live roughly twice as long, on average, as they did when the Declaration of Independence was signed.
(Milan Markovic/iStock)"Childbirth was dangerous, and without antibiotics and vaccines, many infectious diseases, such as measles, smallpox and pneumonia, were deadly," he went on."Now we have cleaner water and sanitation, vaccines and antibiotics that have significantly prolonged life."Advances in treatments of chronic diseases such as high blood pressure, cancer and diabetes have also significantly prolonged life, the Harvard-trained doctor noted.WANT TO AGE BETTER? RESEARCHERS SAY 4-MINUTE ROUTINE MAY HELP PREVENT DANGEROUS FALLSAccording to the CDC, improved prevention and treatment of high blood pressure has helped reduce deaths from heart disease and stroke, two of the nation's leading causes of death.Mia Kazanjian, MD, a Stanford-trained body and breast radiologist with an interest in longevity who is based ...