CDC: Americans living longer than ever

Americans are living longer than ever and their life expectancy is increasing every year, federal health officials reported Monday.

People born in 2009 can expect to live 78.5 years. That's up from just a year earlier, when life expectancy at birth was 78.1 years. Since the latest statistics were collected, life expectancy has increased even more, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website, and now stands at 78.7 years.

Much of the continued increase owes to better treatment of cardiovascular disease, a CDC researcher said.

In the years covered by the report, life expectancy increased for both genders. For males, it went from 75.6 years for those born in 2008 to 76 years for those born in 2009. For females, it went from 80.6 years to 80.9 years, the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics, part of the CDC, reports.

Life expectancy also rose by race, for whites from 78.5 years in 2008 to 78.8 years in 2009; for blacks, from 74 years to 74.5 years; and for Hispanics, from 81 years to 81.2 years, the researchers found.-- HealthDay