Are heart disease rates down in the United States (“US”)? A study is now looking at what the numbers actually reveal on the issue. Add to this, heart disease cases are changing from region to region, according to reports. Whereas in the past the Northeast had the highest cases of heart disease, the trend is now to the South.
Looking at the numbers, 610,000 people die each year in the US from heart disease. This breaks down to about 1 in every 4 people die because of this medical condition. The term “heart disease” encompasses many types of heart conditions, with the most common being coronary artery disease. Coronary artery disease affects the blood flow going to the heart. A decreased amount of blood to the heart can eventually lead to a heart attack.
Researchers studied data on heart disease deaths for people who were aged 35 and over. The data was collected over a two year time frame between 1973 and 2010. In addition, 3,000 counties and 48 contiguous states were included.
Each of the counties studied had a decline in the number of heart disease deaths. When the numbers where averaged out, the decline rate was 61% for each county, with some counties with a decline rate of only 9%. However, other locations had a decline rate of an impressive 83%.
The best way to help prevent heart disease is to develop healthy lifestyle habits. These healthy habits need to be incorporated into our eating and body weight. Add to this, how much physical exercise we get in daily and weekly plays an important role in our healthy lifestyle. Doctors and other medical professionals also remind us that not smoking or using other tobacco products can help decrease our risk of developing heart disease.
To read about the study, and the article in support of this post, click HERE.
