Trends in heart mortality reversing in younger women

Coronary heart disease mortality in younger women could be on the rise, according to findings in the open access journal, BMC Public Health, published by BioMed Central. High levels of smoking, increasing obesity and a lack of exercise could all be contributing to this disturbing trend, seen in women under the age of 50.

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the most common cause of death in the UK, the US, Canada and Australia. It occurs when the arteries supplying blood to the heart narrow, and includes disorders such as heart attacks and angina.

Steven Allender from the University of Oxford and colleagues from the University of Liverpool, UK studied information on all deaths in England and Wales between 1931 and 2005. They examined how CHD mortality rates had changed over time, for different sexes and age groups.

They found that CHD mortality rates in England and Wales rose steadily throughout the 20th century and peaked in the 1970s. In most groups, the rate of CHD mortality has been falling steadily since then. Recent generations have experienced much lower CHD mortality rates than those born in the late 19th or early 20th centuries.

Despite this, researchers have detected a levelling off – and perhaps even a reversal – of the rate of decline in CHD mortality in women under 50. Given that CHD causes over 100,000 deaths in the UK each year, such a trend would have serious implications for health-care provision in the future.

The authors also found evidence that significant advances made in terms of CHD mortality among older populations are not being made in the under-60s – something they warn could increase the burden of CHD if left unchecked.

“We observed that CHD mortality among younger age groups has increased in those born in the early twentieth century compared to those born in the late 19th century” notes Allender. “This requires further study as the public health implications of a decline in survival from CHD in younger age groups may be stark.”

Source: BioMed Central

Related stories:

Coronary heart disease patients live longer, but not always happier, lives
Better treatments have improved survival in people with coronary heart disease, but the quality of those extra years may be less than ideal, according to research reported in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.
Science Behind Health Benefits of Moderate Beer Consumption
There is mounting scientific evidence that moderate consumption of beer or other alcoholic beverages -- defined by the government as one to two servings daily -- may actually have health benefits over not consuming alcohol at all.
Heart disease is linked to worse mental processes that, in turn, predict the onset of dementia
Coronary heart disease is associated with a worse performance in mental processes such as reasoning, vocabulary and verbal fluency, according to a study of 5837 middle-aged Whitehall civil servants. The study also found that the longer ago the heart disease had been diagnosed, the worse was the person's cognitive performance and this effect was particularly marked in men.
Erectile dysfunction may signal a broken heart
Erectile dysfunction is always a matter of the heart, but new research shows that more than romance is at stake. Two new studies of men with type 2 diabetes found that erectile dysfunction (ED) was a powerful early warning sign for serious heart disease, including heart attack and death.
Study of Whitehall civil servants explains how stress at work is linked to heart disease
New research has produced strong evidence of how work stress is linked to the biological mechanisms involved in the onset of heart disease.
Gene variations associated with effectiveness of blood pressure medications
Patients with hypertension and certain gene variations experienced varying results with some blood pressure medications, suggesting matching a patient’s genotype with certain hypertension medications could result in more favorable outcomes, according to a study in the January 23 issue of JAMA.
Overweight adolescents projected to have more heart disease in young adulthood
A new study investigating the health effects of being overweight during adolescence projects alarming increases in the rates of heart disease and premature death by the time today’s teenagers reach young adulthood.
Use of certain lipid measures not more effective in predicting coronary heart disease
The lipid measure apolipoprotein (apo) B: apo A-I ratio is not a better predictor of coronary heart disease risk than traditional lipid ratios that include total cholesterol and HDL-C, according to a study in the August 15 issue of JAMA.

News discussion:

Medicine & Health news