Living Long Depends on Where You're Living

Scott LaFee
Tue, 16 Dec 2025 21:00:00 -0800
Lifestyle

Even with modern medicine, vaccines and artificial intelligence helping to diagnose diseases early, the risk of dying before age 70 — called probability of premature death, or PPD — still varies widely around the world.

In 2019, 12% of people in the world's healthiest countries died before age 70. In sub-Saharan Africa, that number was 52%; in India, 37%; in the United States, 22%; and in Western Europe and Canada, 15%, according to Duke University research published in JAMA Health Forum.

"We expected disparities," said the study's lead author Omar Karlsson, a scholar with the Center for Policy Impact in Global Health at the Duke Global Health Institute. "What was surprising was just how extremely uneven mortality decline has been across the world."
Updated: Wed Dec 17, 2025

Even with modern medicine, vaccines and artificial intelligence helping to diagnose diseases early, the risk of dying before age 70 — called probability of premature death, or PPD — still varies widely around the world.

In 2019, 12% of people in the world's healthiest countries died before age 70. In sub-Saharan Africa, that number was 52%; in India, 37%; in the United States, 22%; and in Western Europe and Canada, 15%, according to Duke University research published in JAMA Health Forum.

"We expected disparities," said the study's lead author Omar Karlsson, a scholar with the Center for Policy Impact in Global Health at the Duke Global Health Institute. "What was surprising was just how extremely uneven mortality decline has been across the world."

Japan remains the place to live if you want to live a long time. Japan's PPD stood at 12%, down dramatically from 57% in 1900 (based on historical demographic data). The U.S. is a different story. It's losing ground.

Despite having the highest health care spending in the world, the U.S. is doing worse than expected when it comes to preventing early deaths. In 1970, the U.S. lagged 29 years behind the global frontier. By 2019, that gap had grown to 38 years.

The researchers cited deep inequalities in the U.S. health care system, high costs and wasteful medical spending. Rising deaths from drug overdoses, gun violence and suicide were also factors.

Body of Knowledge

The human bellybutton can harbor a great diversity of life. The average bellybutton hosts approximately 67 species of bacteria, but more than 2,300 different species have been identified, with more than 1,400 new to science.

Stories for the Waiting Room

New research shows that astronauts floating in orbit above the Earth commonly suffer from headaches, stuffy noses and congestion. The symptoms affect more than eight in 10 astronauts. The reason may "lie" in microgravity, which causes fluids in the body that normally pool in the legs to shift upward, causing increased pressure and swelling in the sinuses.

Doc Talk

Vitamin IQ deficiency: Not a phrase most doctors would say to a patient's face. It suggests the patient lacks the mental wherewithal to follow medical advice.

Phobia of the Week

Aphenphosmphobia: Fear of being touched

Life in Big Macs

One hour of chopping wood energetically burns 1,156 calories (based on a 150-pound person), the equivalent of 1.6 Big Macs with cheese.

Never Say 'Diet'

The Major League Eating speed-eating record for spray cheese in a can is two 8-ounce cans in 59 seconds, held by George Chiger, who probably didn't feel so grate.

Best Medicine

One evening, a man visits his doctor.

The doctor asks what's wrong, and the man says, "I think I'm a moth."

The doctor is chagrined. "You think you're a moth?" he exclaims. "You don't need a doctor. You need is a therapist."

"I know," replies the man. "I was on my way to see a therapist, but then I saw your light was on."

Observation

"I am pretty sure that, if you will be quite honest, you will admit that a good rousing sneeze, one that tears open your collar and throws your hair into your eyes, is really one of life's sensational pleasures." — American humorist Robert Benchley (1889-1945)

Medical History

In 1827, the Boston School Committee voted to require that public school students show that they had been vaccinated against smallpox prior to school entrance. Certificates to the board of health were to be issued where necessary for free vaccination. This initiative came just three decades after Edward Jenner's discovery of a method to immunize against smallpox. Massachusetts passed the first statewide school vaccination law in 1855. New York and Connecticut followed in 1862 and 1872, respectively.

Ig Nobel Apprised

The Ig Nobel Prizes celebrate achievements that make people laugh, then think. A look at real science that's hard to take seriously and even harder to ignore.

In 2025, the Ig Nobel Prize in peace went to three Dutch researchers for investigating the popular belief that alcohol improves the ability to speak in a foreign language. Using 50 native German speakers who had recently learned Dutch, the scientists determined that speakers who had enjoyed a low dose of alcohol spoke Dutch significantly better than nondrinkers, especially in terms of pronunciation.

They probably also found people better looking.

Curtain Calls

The Big Game is a college football match played between the University of California, Berkeley (Cal), and Stanford University. The rivalry began in 1892. Stanford leads the series with 65 wins, 51 losses and 11 ties.

The 1900 Big Game is remembered as deadliest accident in U.S. sports history. With game tickets going for a then-outrageous $1 (equivalent to $40 today), hundreds of spectators took to watching from the roofs of surrounding buildings, including a glass-blowing factory.

The factory roof collapsed under their weight. At least 100 people fell four stories to the factory floor, and at least 60 others landed onto a furnace. Twenty-three died, and more than 100 were injured.

For the record, the game was not stopped. Stanford won, 5-0. It was Thanksgiving Day.