As 2011 winds down, NY1 health and fitness reporter Kafi Drexel looks back at some of the top medical stories of the year in part two of her report.

September 11, 2001 forever changed our lives in every way including health. A 10th anniversary study of firefighters is further proof. Those who responded to the World Trade Center site are 19 percent more likely to develop cancer than those who did not.

A new study shows women who carry the BRCA gene may be at risk of getting breast or ovarian cancer nearly eight years earlier than family members in the generation before them. The reasons aren't clear. Researchers say environmental factors and increased vigilance about screening may play a role.

A federal panel recommends against regular prostate cancer screening tests for healthy men. U.S. Task Force doctors say routine PSA tests don't show how much health risk a patient actually has from prostate cancer and often lead to unnecessary treatments and procedures that may do more harm than good. The recommendations outrage patients and doctors who say men's lives would be threatened without the regular screening tool.

Millions of Americans rely on supplements for a dietary boost. But new findings in a large-scale study of older women show those taking some of the most popular supplements from multivitamins to zinc had higher death rates than those who didn't. A separate study links Vitamin E to increased prostate cancer risk in men. Experts say the best source of nutrients is what fills your plate.

Is there a plan C? The Obama administration blocks an FDA plan to make the morning after pill, Plan B available to girls 16 and under over the counter. Health secretary Kathleen Sebelius says she overruled FDA scientists and plans to keep age restrictions in place because there is not enough proof teenage girls have minds of their own/can understand label instructions. Youth health advocates and women's groups argue the move has less to do with science and more to do with politics.