To see such a giant drop after years of annual increases was a little hard to swallow for some.
"We will not make much of this until the final data come out," said Elizabeth Ward, director of surveillance research for the American Cancer Society....
The center said drops in the death rates for heart disease, cancer and stroke accounted for most of the decline....
Overall, age-adjusted death rates fell to a record low of 801 deaths per 100,000 population in 2004, down from almost 833 deaths per 100,000 in 2003....
Japan, Monaco and San Marino had the highest life expectancy, 82 years, in 2004, according to World Health Organization statistics. Australia, Iceland, Italy, Sweden and Switzerland have a life expectancy of 81. Canada, France, Israel, Norway, Spain and Britain are among the other countries with life expectancies above 78.