NEW SCIENTIST – Deaths from heart attacks have plummeted in the US over the past 50 years, whereas deaths from chronic heart conditions have skyrocketed, probably due to people living longer.
“We’ve made some really great progress in certain areas of heart disease mortality, but now we’re seeing this shift,” says Sara King at Stanford University in California.
She and her colleagues collected data on heart disease deaths from 1970 to 2022 using the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s WONDER database, which tracks all recorded fatalities in the country.
They found that in 2022, heart disease accounted for 24 per cent of all deaths in the US, down from 41 per cent in 1970. The decline is largely thanks to an almost 90 per cent decrease in heart attack deaths, which were once the deadliest form of heart disease.
“Incredible progress has been made to reduce deaths from heart attacks over the last 50 years,” says King.
This includes new therapies such as heart stents, coronary artery bypass surgery and cholesterol-lowering medications. Public health measures, such as bystander CPR training and efforts to lower smoking rates, have also probably helped, says King …
Heart Disease Mortality in the United States, 1970 to 2022
Research Article, Originally Published 25 June 2025
Journal of the American Heart Association – From 1970 to 2022, overall age‐adjusted heart disease mortality decreased by 66% from 1970 to 2022 (from 761 to 258 per 100 000). In 1970, 91% of all heart disease deaths were ischemic, declining to 53% of all heart disease deaths in 2022.
From 1970 to 2022, age‐adjusted mortality decreased by 89% for acute myocardial infarction (from 354 to 40 per 100 000) and 81% for all ischemic heart disease (from 693 to 135 per 100 00).
In contrast, from 1970 to 2022 age‐adjusted mortality for other heart disease subtypes increased by 81% (from 68 to 123 per 100 000), with the greatest increases in heart failure (146% increase), hypertensive heart disease (106% increase) and arrhythmias (450% increase).
Conclusions
Heart disease mortality has decreased over the past 5 decades. There is an increasing burden of mortality from other heart conditions including heart failure, hypertensive heart disease, and arrhythmias.
Further efforts must be undertaken to address the growing challenge of these other heart conditions. SOURCE.
