U.S. Lives: Longer but Sicker?

U.S. Lives: Longer but Sicker?
http://ehp03.niehs.nih.gov/article/fetchArticle.action?articleURI=info%3Adoi%2F10.1289%2Fehp.119-a118a

"Contrary to society's assumptions that good health will increase with each generation, Americans are living longer but enjoying fewer healthy years. "We do not appear to be moving to a world where we die without experiencing disease, functioning loss, and disability," says Eileen M. Crimmins, a professor of gerontology at the University of Southern California (USC). According to an analysis1 by Crimmins and USC postdoctoral fellow Hiram Beltrán-Sánchez, between 1970 and 2005 the probability that a person aged 65 would live 20 more years doubled to 40%, primarily because of decreases in death from cardiovascular disease and cancer. However, average years spent living with morbidity2 also increased."