NEW YORK-A new study offers more compelling evidence that life expectancy for some U.S. women is actually falling, a disturbing trend that experts can’t explain.

The latest research found that women age 75 and younger are dying at higher rates than previous years in nearly half of the nation’s counties-many of them rural and in the South and West. Curiously, for men, life expectancy has held steady or improved in nearly all counties.

A new survey from the American Psychological Association reveals troubling findings about stress in the American workplace. WSJ’s Lauren Weber and the American Psychological Association’s David Ballard join Lunch Break to discuss.

Two studies that looked at the effects of smoking over a lifetime found that both men and women who smoke were about three times as likely to die before reaching age 80 in one study, and 75 in the other study. WSJ’s Ron Winslow reports.

Health: Working to Make Childbirth Safer

The study is the latest to spot this pattern, especially among disadvantaged white women. Some leading theories blame higher smoking rates, obesity and less education, but several experts said they simply don’t know why.

Women have long outlived men, and the latest numbers show […]