Suicide and opiates take a rising toll on older white Americans

New research from a pair of Princeton economists finds that the death rate among white Americans aged 45 to 54 is rising.

Other racial groups are experiencing dropping mortality rates. The only other cohort with a higher mortality rate is middle-aged black Americans, but the gap between the two is closing.

The numbers were so startling that Samuel Preston, a mortality expert at the University of Pennsylvania, told the New York Times, "This is a vivid indication that something is awry in these American households."

Lisa Berkman, Director for the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studie and Dr. Patrick Remington, Associate Dean for Public Health and Professor of Population Health Sciences at University of Wisconsin-Madison joined MPR News with Kerri Miller to discuss the negative health trend.