SADLY, lifespans are shortening in some low-income Appalachian regions, especially for women, according to new national research.

"The Reversal of Fortunes" is the title of a study in PloS Medicine published by the Public Library of Science. It says life expectancy keeps climbing dramatically for Americans in general - but not for mountain women, or blacks in the Deep South, or a few other less-fortunate groups.

Lung cancer, diabetes and hypertension - linked to smoking, obesity and excessive drinking, which are common among the less-affluent - are factors in the disturbing decline, the study concludes.

"Socioeconomic status has become an even more important indicator of life expectancy," the report said. One researcher commented that it's "remarkable in an advanced industrial nation" for a poorer segment to suffer earlier death.

Researchers analyzed data from America's 3,141 counties. They found that average life expectancy rose from 61 years in 1933 to 78 in 2005. However, between 1983 and 1999, women's lifespans shortened in 180 low-income counties, and failed to rise in 783 others. Men declined in 11 counties and stayed stagnant in 48 others.

"In the worst-performing counties, all in southwestern Virginia, the drop in life expectancy over the 16-year period was nearly six years for women and two and a half years for men," a New York Times account said.

West Virginia has nine counties in which women's lifespans dropped more than a year, the study found. In Lincoln, Jackson, Barbour and Taylor counties, they lost nearly two years. In Logan, McDowell, Lewis, Gilmer and Randolph, the loss was above a year. To make matters worse, some of the counties already had poor life expectancy in 1983 when the research comparison began.

Former presidential candidate John Edwards stressed that this country is dividing into "two Americas," with high-earners leaving the less-educated far behind. He said the new lifespan findings show that "the wealth and income disparity effectively infiltrates all parts of people's lives."

Harvard University researcher Majid Ezzati, one of the study's authors, said shorter-living low-income folk can expect little government help, "because policies aimed at reducing fundamental socioeconomic inequalities are currently practically absent in the United States."

It's a sad stain on the world's richest nation, that some less-privileged people are losing years of life.

"The Reversal of Fortunes" is the title of a study in PloS Medicine published by the Public Library of Science. It says life expectancy keeps climbing dramatically for Americans in general - but not for mountain women, or blacks in the Deep South, or a few other less-fortunate groups.

Lung cancer, diabetes and hypertension - linked to smoking, obesity and excessive drinking, which are common among the less-affluent - are factors in the disturbing decline, the study concludes.

"Socioeconomic status has become an even more important indicator of life expectancy," the report said. One researcher commented that it's "remarkable in an advanced industrial nation" for a poorer segment to suffer earlier death.

Researchers analyzed data from America's 3,141 counties. They found that average life expectancy rose from 61 years in 1933 to 78 in 2005. However, between 1983 and 1999, women's lifespans shortened in 180 low-income counties, and failed to rise in 783 others. Men declined in 11 counties and stayed stagnant in 48 others.

"In the worst-performing counties, all in southwestern Virginia, the drop in life expectancy over the 16-year period was nearly six years for women and two and a half years for men," a New York Times account said.

West Virginia has nine counties in which women's lifespans dropped more than a year, the study found. In Lincoln, Jackson, Barbour and Taylor counties, they lost nearly two years. In Logan, McDowell, Lewis, Gilmer and Randolph, the loss was above a year. To make matters worse, some of the counties already had poor life expectancy in 1983 when the research comparison began.

Former presidential candidate John Edwards stressed that this country is dividing into "two Americas," with high-earners leaving the less-educated far behind. He said the new lifespan findings show that "the wealth and income disparity effectively infiltrates all parts of people's lives."

Harvard University researcher Majid Ezzati, one of the study's authors, said shorter-living low-income folk can expect little government help, "because policies aimed at reducing fundamental socioeconomic inequalities are currently practically absent in the United States."

It's a sad stain on the world's richest nation, that some less-privileged people are losing years of life.