Good News on Cancer!

Happy to hear that the number of cancer deaths in the U.S. has dropped for the second straight year. Even more importantly, the death rate from cancer has been falling about 1% a year since 1991.

By far the greatest decreases are in colorectal cancer, especially because more people are now screened for it. See our story on this. There are several fun screening methods to choose from--stool tests, colonoscopy (a scope of the entire intestine), and sigmoidoscopy (scope of the lower intestine). Only half the adults who should be screened have been screened. Screening rates are even lower for blacks.

Advice: Ask your middle-aged friends, especially your black friends, if they have been screened. Click the envelope icon just below here to tell them.

Read more in Denise Grady's NY Times article on Jan. 18.