Aging of U.S. Population May Result in More Heart Disease-Related Deaths

A study in JAMA Cardiology suggests the aging American population will likely increase the incidence of heart disease-related deaths, reports United Press International . Kaiser Permanente-associated researchers examined U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data on deaths across all U.S. states from 2000 through 2017, and compared these statistics to U.S. Census numbers. The Census estimates found the 65-and-older American population rose from 41.4 million in 2011 to 50.9 million in 2017, and forecast that demographic will total 73.1 million by 2030. The overall rate of heart disease-related mortality declined within the general population by 5 percent between 2011 and 2017, but total number of deaths related to these ailments actually gained by 8.5 percent due to the expanding older American populace. When combined with the 22.9 percent growth in the population of adults 65 and older, the team observed a 38 percent increase in the number of deaths with heart failure as the underlying cause. "We need to increase prevention efforts for heart disease," argued Kaiser Permanente Northern California's Stephen Sidney.