LOS ANGELES, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Americans live longer due in large part to the surging use of improved medical technology, according to a national report released on Wednesday.
Advanced medical technology also drives down rates of major killers such as heart disease and cancer, said the annual report issued by the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics, part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Americans are living longer than ever before -- 77.9 years on average, according to the report.
Improved medical technology has become a driving force of the nation's medical system. The report found, for instance, that the rate of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans and computed and positron emission tomography (CT/PET) scans tripled from 1996 to 2007.
Knee replacements, the report found, increased 70 percent in the past decade. And organ transplants also became more common. The number of kidney transplants per one million people increased 31 percent, for example, and the number of liver transplants increased 42 percent.
Although Americans live longer than ever before, many Americans are still troubled by excessive weight, insufficient exercise and lack of insurance, the report warned.
The use and misuse of medical technology may also be a factor behind the ever-increasing cost of health care, said the report.
The report also found:
-- Heart disease, cancer and stroke, in that order, remain the three leading causes of death in the United States, although deaths attributed to all three have declined;
-- About 10 percent of Americans rate their health as only " fair or poor," an increase since the last report;
-- Americans' use of medications has tripled, with 47 percent of U.S. residents now taking at least one prescription drug. Half of adults older than 45 take diabetes medications, and 10 times as many people took cholesterol-lowering drugs from 2003 to 2006 as took the drugs from 1988 to 1994; and
-- More Americans are going without health insurance, with almost 8 percent of those aged 18 to 64 uninsured.
