You might recall the promising demographic data published earlier this year, showing a trend upwards in health and life expectancy. Via ABC News, here is the flip side of that same data: "In what appears to be an amazing success for American medicine, preliminary government figures released Wednesday showed that the annual number of deaths in the U.S. dropped by nearly 50,000 in 2004 the biggest decline in nearly 70 years. The 2 percent decrease, reported by the National Center for Health Statistics, came as a shock to many, because the U.S. is aging, growing in population and getting fatter. ... the statistics, based on a review of about 90 percent of death records reported in all 50 states in 2004, were consistent across the country and were deemed solid enough to report. The center said drops in the death rates for heart disease, cancer and stroke accounted for most of the decline. ... We were surprised by the sharpness of the decrease. It's kind of historical."

Link: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/print?id=1861430