Deaths by heart disease have dropped by 66% in the past 50 years, according to a new study from the American Heart Association. This is largely because of a decline in fatal heart attacks.
But at the same time, deaths from chronic heart conditions have risen in the past five decades. Let’s look at the study, heart disease mortality and prevention.
Heart attack deaths since 1970
For a century, heart disease has been the leading cause of death in the United States. To get a better picture of heart disease deaths, researchers analyzed mortality data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Vital Statistics System of adults age 25 and older from 1970 to 2022. The study found:
- 41% of all deaths in 1970 were because of heart-related conditions.
- More than 90% of heart-related deaths were ischemic, or a loss of blood flow. The loss of blood to the heart muscle from the coronary arteries can lead to a heart attack if the blood loss is severe or lasts for more than a few minutes.
- In the past 50 years, heart attack deaths decreased by 89%, and coronary heart disease deaths dropped by 81%.
Researchers attribute this improvement to improved diagnoses, medical technology, health interventions to manage high blood pressure, high cholesterol, smoking and heart attacks.
Only 11.6% of Americans smoked cigarettes as of 2022, compared to 40% in 1970, according to the CDC.
Increase in chronic heart conditions
In 2022, 24% of all deaths were attributed to heart related conditions, a significant decrease in the past 50 years. But since 1970, there has been an increase in chronic conditions such as hypertensive heart disease, heart failure and arrhythmias.