The statistics for life expectancy in the United States are headed in the wrong direction, and have been for the last several years. They are going down, not staying stable or increasing. This is indeed a very disturbing, not say horrifying sign of the country’s continuing battle to raise the standard of health — or to at least maintain it at current levels. The National Center for Health Statistics, a branch of the federal government, is providing this bad news.
In press conferences during the past several years experts at the National Center for Health Statistics, Mortality Branch, have been sounding the alarm. In their opinion this shocking drop in life expectancy is directly related to drug overdose mortality. Specifically the massive opioid mortality rate. It’s become a huge public health issue that grabs headlines and impacts the lives of more and more Americans. Doctors everywhere insist that this is an issue that needs urgent attention and must be addressed on the local and national level. In the United States, say researchers at the National Center for Health Statistics, there has not been a dip like this since 1993, at the height of the AIDS crisis. And the very last time these statistics kept going down for more than 2 years in a row was at the beginning of the 1960’s.
County, state, and federal authorities seem to be at a standstill in dealing with this tidal wave of mortality that has gripped the entire nation. Law enforcement has stepped up the policing of the sale and use of illegal opioids, and the medical profession is concentrating on training physicians and other healthcare operatives to avoid opioid prescriptions as much as possible. But public therapists and hospital ER rooms continue to be overwhelmed with toxic cases.
Heroin and fentanyl are currently the main culprits in the literal death march of victims who succumb to overdoses on a daily basis, according to doctors and researchers. Better health care options for the entire U.S. population will help, of course; but the most important aspect is to strangle the current pipeline that makes it relatively easy to obtain and abuse opioids — as well as many other deadly so-called recreational substances. Disrupting this evil supply chain is completely essential.
The Big Three that are robbing Americans of longer, better, lives, according to statisticians, are drug overdoses, alcohol fatalities, and suicide. Americans are under deadly attack right at this moment from the Big Three — and opioid addiction and death from opioid overdoses are leading the pack in this terrifying spectacle.
Addiction treatment continues to be the best bet against this threat, according to drug rehab Austin.
The warning signs for substance abuse and opioid addiction are easy to spot:
A sudden lethargy that doesn’t go away after a day or two of rest.
Constricted pupils and intolerance to direct sunlight.
Drastic mood alterations, going from happy to sad in a matter of hours.
And major changes in normal daily activities, with no clear explanation as to why it’s happening.
People experiencing this kind of shift in themselves or in others should seek immediate substance abuse and addiction counseling. Healthcare workers now have a substantial list of addiction clinics where help is professional, caring, and effective.
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