Long Live...Well...Us!

It’s nice to know that goals of living until the ripe old age of 103-years-old really do stand a chance. A World Health Organization report showed that, for the first time, the U.S. life expectancy rate has surpassed 78 years.

But (there's always a but), the U.S. does continue to trail about 30 other countries in estimated life span, including Japan, which has the longest life expectancy in the world at 83 years for children born in 2006. Switzerland and Australia also topped the long-life list.

Researchers say the jump is due in most part to decreased mortality rates in almost all of the 15 leading causes of death, including heart disease, cancer, accidents and diabetes. Health conditions that did not see a rate improvement included Alzheimer’s disease, which moved to pass diabetes and become the nation’s six leading cause of death. Could this mean the U.S. is charting a coarse toward healthy living? Well, that's yet to be seen.

So this is great news! We want to be inspired: Who do you know that has surpassed the national life expectancy of 78-years-old? [MSNBC]