New statistics show that 1 in 8 Americans die of heart failure, with most deaths in people above 65
About one in eight Americans are dying from heart failure, says a new study. With about nine out of ten of those deaths occurring in people over 65, heart failure is on the rise among aging Americans, shows analysis.
"The US is now experiencing a dramatic increase in the number of older people dying from heart disease, and especially heart failure", says lead author Stephen Sidney, a senior research scientist with the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research. He adds that this study underscores the importance of focusing on heart health in the population of people over the age of 65.
A previous study found that deaths from heart failure is increasing even among American adults. Mortality among middle-aged and younger adults are higher than it was a decade ago.
According to the CDC, about 5.7 million people in the US have heart failure and about half of them die within five years of diagnosis. Heart failure grew by 10 million between 2011 and 2017 and is projected to increase by another 22 million by 2030, the current study finds.
To estimate heart failure rate in people, researchers from a company named Kaiser Permanente, analyzed data found in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Wide-Ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research, or CDC WONDER, system. The database contains information on the fatalities caused due to heart failure.
The researchers found a rise in the number of deaths due to heart failure since 2011. The team found that more than 647,000 people in the United States died from heart disease in 2017, about 51,000 more than the 2011 estimate. Of those deaths, 80,000 had heart failure as the underlying cause in 2017, about 22,000 more than in 2011.
This rise could also be due to a growth in the number of the ageing population in the US. "The study points out that the 65-and-older population in the US grew by almost 23% from 2011 to 2017", reports TIME.
"We are now in the midst of a 'silver tsunami' of heart disease and heart failure", says senior author Jamal S. Rana, chief of cardiology at Kaiser Permanente Oakland Medical Center and adjunct research investigator at the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research. "This will require both innovation in clinical care for our patients and urgent policy initiatives at the health care systems level to be better prepared for its impact", adds Rana.