For the first time since the Spanish influenza of 1918, life expectancy is falling for a significant number of American women. The Washington Post reports the life expectancy for women is now shorter than it was in early 1980s in nearly 1,000 counties across the country, including areas of the Deep South, Appalachia and the lower Midwest. The trend appears to be driven by increases in death from diabetes, lung cancer, emphysema and kidney failure. About half of all deaths in the United States are attributable to a small number of “modifiable” behaviors and exposures, such as smoking, poor diet and lack of exercise.