The average age of death can vary rather significantly over time, and is affected by many factors, including the prevalence of obesity, sedentary lifestyles, and drug overdoses. Similarly, the very idea of poor health is both subjective and measured differently from place to place, and so researchers are divided on whether the DALY is rising or declining in the United States. But even the more optimistic assessments suggest that the numbers have largely been static in recent years. To me, that in itself is an indictment of the US system; like other advanced countries, we should be making
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