DEATH rates in the US have fallen by 32 per cent in the last 30 years, from 1242 per 100,000 per year in 1970 to 845 in 2002. But the figures hide some worrying trends among women and people who are obese (Journal of the American Medical Association, vol 294, p 1255).
Age-standardised death rates for heart disease, stroke, cancer and accidents have all fallen for both sexes. In men, deaths from tobacco-related diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are also declining.
But Ahmedin Jemal, an epidemiologist at the American Cancer Society in Atlanta, Georgia, says…
