Article (Transfusion -- March 8, 2012): The United States Trypanosoma cruzi Infection Study: Evidence for Vector-borne Transmission of the Parasite That Causes Chagas Disease Among United States Blood Donors.
The ALS Association says the average lifespan of someone diagnosed with the condition is between two and five years. More than 50 percent make it past year three. Twenty percent make it past year five. From there, the number plummets. Less than 5 percent make it past two decades.
Life expectancy is the estimated number of years a person is expected to live. The average life expectancy for people in the U.S. is around 78 years, but asbestos-caused cancers, such as mesothelioma and lung cancer, often cut lives short. Doctors estimate life expectancy by looking at statistics on how long people with mesothelioma tend to survive.