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| posted Oct 15, 2007 10:27:20 AM | To All |
From a CBS News report:
Death rates are dropping faster than ever and between 2002 and 2004, death rates dropped by an average of 2.1 percent a year. That's a big decrease from the 1.1 rate that we observed between 1993 and 2001.
The big change is largely due to the fact that there's a drop in colorectal cancer diagnoses and cancer screenings have helped more people, and advancements in surgical techniques and drug treatments.
Some other facts:
- Cancer mortality is improving faster among men, with drops in death rates of 2.6 percent a year compared with 1.8 percent a year for women.
- Lung cancer explains much of the gender difference. Male death rates are dropping about 2 percent a year while female death rates finally are holding steady after years of increases. Smoking rates fell for men before they did for women, so men reaped the benefits sooner.
- Overall, the rate of new cancer diagnoses is inching down about one-half a percent a year.
- New breast cancer diagnoses are dropping about 3.5 percent a year, a previously reported decline due either to women shunning postmenopausal hormone therapy or to fewer getting mammograms
This is good news on many fronts in the fight against cancer. I hope things continue to improve like this, and hopefully in the future we won't have just improved treatments, but a way to prevent it completely |
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"We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect." -Aldo Leopold
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