Life expectancy in U.S. reaches all-time high

ATLANTA -- Life expectancy for Americans reached an all-time high of 77.2 years in 2001, federal officials said Friday.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said life expectancy increased by two-tenths of a year from 2000. A drop in major causes of deaths such as heart disease, cancer and stroke contributed to the increase.

For men, life expectancy rose from 74.3 years in 2000 to 74.4 years in 2001. For women, it went from 79.7 years to 79.8 years for the same period. The CDC analyzed more than 97 percent of all state death certificates.

"It's good news to know that diseases of the heart are declining, that cancer is declining and stroke is declining," said Elizabeth Arias, statistician for the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics, which conducted the study.

While homicides went up by 17 percent, officials attributed that to the Sept. 11 attacks. Without the attacks, the homicide rate would have fallen by 1.7 percent, she said.