from JAMA Cardiology and American Heart Association
Heart disease has been the leading cause
of death in this country for decades, but in
the first decade of this new century heart
disease deaths declined at a rate of nearly
four percent. Since then the rate of
decline has slowed to less than one
percent. The study, published in JAMA
Cardiology, says the slowdown in rate of
decline in heart disease is alarming and
warrants innovative efforts to improve
heart disease prevention. In a separate
study, the American Heart Association
reports about one in every nine men will
experience sudden cardiac death,
compared with about one in thirty women.
The study offers the first lifetime risk
estimates for sudden cardiac death, and
high blood pressure levels were more
accurate in both men and women than any
other single factor.