Looking at ourselves, we’re living longer, but we’ll spend more years with chronic disabilities of that extra lifespan.

That’s the upshot of a new study issued Wednesday by the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

Dr. Christopher Murray of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation said that diseases with the largest number of years lived with disability were low back pain, major depressive disorder, other musculoskeletal disorders, neck pain, and anxiety disorders.

“There are also diseases on a rapid increase like Alzheimer’s, drug use disorders, chronic kidney diseases and diabetes.”

On the positive side, the number of years you can expect to live in full health has increased to 68.

Story Date: July 17, 2013