|EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE
Wednesday, October 30, 2002
5:00 p.m. ET
NHLBI Communications Office
NHLBI Study Finds Improved Heart Failure Survival
- From 1950 to 1999, there were 1,075 cases of heart failureľabout equally divided
between men and women.
- In 1950-69, 70 percent of men died within 5 years of being diagnosed with heart
failure; in 1990-99, that rate dropped to 59 percent. In 1950-69, 57 percent of
women died within 5 years of heart failure diagnosis; in 1990-99, that rate dropped
to 45 percent.
- For women, the number of new cases dropped by a third from 1950 to 1979, with no
additional change from 1980 to 1999. For men, there was no significant change in
the number of new cases from 1950 to 1999.
- Deaths from heart failure decreased on average by 12 percent per decade for women
"The reason that new cases are on the decrease for women but not men may have to do with a gender difference in the causes," said Levy. "Although high blood pressure and heart attack are important causes of heart failure in both men and women, uncontrolled hypertension is more prominent as a risk factor for the disease in women, while heart attack plays a greater role in men.
"Treatment for high blood pressure has improved greatly over the past 50 years and has been shown to dramatically cut the number of new cases of heart failure. This may explain why fewer women are developing the disease," he continued.
"Heart attack treatment and survival have improved since 1950 as well. But, many of those who now survive have a damaged heart, which makes them vulnerable to heart failure. A consequence of advances in the treatment of heart attack is a growing group of patients at risk for the occurrence of heart failure."
He added that it is likely that the availability of drugs and other treatments for heart failure is the key reason survival has improved in the past 50 years.
But he cautioned that, since the findings are based on one, mostly white study, more research must be done to check trends on the survival and number of new cases in other racial and ethnic groups.
To interview Levy, contact the NHLBI Communications Office at (301) 496-4236.
NHLBI news releases and information on heart failure and other heart-related topics are available online at www.nhlbi.nih.gov.