Heart disease is the leading cause of death around the world. However, the total heart rate of heart disease over the last five decades has dropped by 66% in adults from America aged 25 and more, according to a new study. Even better, the death of heart attacks dropped by nearly 90%.
“Over the last 50 years, our understanding of heart disease, what causes it and how we treat it has developed significantly,” said the author of the leading researcher Dr. Sarah King, a resident of internal medicine in the second year at the Medical School at Stanford University in California.
“There are great achievements in helping people survive in the initial acute heart events that were once considered a death sentence,” King said in a statement.
Unfortunately, this positive news has the reverse side. Death from all other types of heart disease, including arrhythmia, heart failure, and hypertension of the heart increases by 81% in the United States, according to a study published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Cardiac Association.
It is important to put both sets of numbers in perspective, said Dr. Andrew Freeman, director of cardiovascular prevention and well -being in national Jewish health in Denver.
“Nowadays, the likelihood of dying from a heart attack is relatively low compared to where it was, but the likelihood of significant heart attack is still high,” says Freeman, who did not participate in the study.
“You can develop heart failure – when the heart is not able to pump enough blood to meet the needs of the body and you are always panting,” he said. “Or maybe you have a number of blood pressure medicines, fluid retention and cholesterol, or you never feel best.
“It’s one to be alive, it’s another to be alive and well.”
Cardiovascular risks in the rise
The study analyzed government data on death from heart disease between 1970 and 2022. As early as 1970, cardiac attacks were responsible for 54% of all deaths from heart problems. By 2022, this number dropped to 29%.
The death of atrial fibrillation and other arrhythmias that occur when electrical impulses to the heart are confused and cause irregular heart rhythm or “fluttering” in the chest were rare in the 70s. By 2022, their number increased to 450% – about 4% of all deaths of heart disease, the study found.
Baby Baby Baby population is already a time when it is most likely to develop heart disease. – LayLabird/E+/Getty Images
Death from heart failure increased by 146% over the same period, while death due to persistent high blood pressure increased by 106%.
Changes in cardiovascular risk factors contribute to the growth of certain types of heart disease, the study said. Obesity, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, poor food choice and physical inaction have jumped over the last 50 years. Obesity spread increased from 15% in 1970 to 40% in 2022, the study found. Type 2 diabetes and prediabetes affects almost half of all adults in the United States. High blood pressure increased from 30% in 1978 to nearly 50% in 2022.
Another potential contributor – the aging population of baby bubbles, which is now time when they are most likely to develop heart disease.
“All these risk factors contribute to the ongoing severity of heart disease, especially in associated heart failure, hypertonic heart disease and arrhythmias,” said senior study by study Dr. Lata Palaniapan, Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine and Assistant Professor of Research at Stanford University.
“Heart diseases have not disappeared,” Palanyapan says in a statement. “The focus should now be on helping people grow old with strong, healthy hearts, preventing events and prevention can start in childhood.”
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