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CDC reports the life expectancy of Americans has dropped for the first time in years. Thanks 2016
Dr. Cliff Watson discusses the process of studying cigarette smoke and its effects on smokers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Thursday, Nov. 10, 2016, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Branden Camp)

CDC reports the life expectancy of Americans has dropped for the first time in years. Thanks 2016

According to CNN, reports out of the Center for Disease Control have some bad news for U.S. citizens hoping to live as long as they possibly can. 

On average, Americans can now expect to live 78.8 years, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report released Thursday, a statistically significant drop of 0.1 year from last year. Though this doesn't sound like much, it may foreshadow a larger dip to come, or it may prove to be a blip reversed when the 2016 numbers are released next December.

Women are still set to live longer than men with an expectancy of 81.2 years for the fairer sex, and 76.3 for the masculine. While both have dropped by average, the top 10 killers of Americans remains the same. 

The 10 leading causes of death remain unchanged -- and accounted for 74.2% of all deaths in the United States in 2015, according to the report. Age-adjusted death rates increased for eight of the top 10 leading causes of death: heart disease, chronic lower respiratory diseases, unintentional injuries, stroke, Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, kidney disease and suicide. The age-adjusted death rate for cancer decreased. The rate for influenza and pneumonia did not change significantly.

Dr. Jiaquan Xu, an epidemiologist with the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics says that "one year does not form a trend," and compared this year's drop to 1993's where life expectancy decreased but did not do so again until this year. Until then it's recommended that exercising, eating right, and not smoking are solid ways to keep yourself in the land of the living.

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