hysterectomies
600,000
The annual number of hysterectomies performed in the U.S.

70% of the total number of hysterectomies are done in via a surgical method pioneered in 1843! (There a plenty of great less-invasive more modern means available, such as laparoscopic or robotic surgeries.)

Women who have undergone hysterectomies have a 60% greater risk of incontinence after age 60 than abstainers.

(Sources: More magazine, CDC, UCSF study)
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Menopause:

50

The CDC's latest study on STDs found:

* 1.2 million cases of chlamydia were reported in 2008, up from 1.1 million in 2007.

* Nearly 337,000 cases of gonorrhea were reported.

* Adolescent girls 15 to 19 years had the most chlamydia and gonorrhea cases of any age group at 409,531.

* Blacks, who represent 12 percent of the U.S. population, accounted for about 71 percent of reported gonorrhea cases and almost half of all chlamydia and syphilis cases in 2008.

* Black women 15 to 19 had the highest rates of chlamydia and gonorrhea.

From the CDC:
U..S. life expectancy reached an all-time high of 77.9 years in 2007 — up from 77.7 years in 2006 — according to preliminary data from the CDC. The data were taken from roughly 90% of national death certificates for 2007. Among other findings:
• Life expectancy for males was 75.3 years and for females, 80.4.

• For black males, life expectancy reached a record 70 years.

• In the past decade, overall life expectancy increased by 1.4 years.