Heart attacks are no longer the leading cause of death in the US

Heart attacks are no longer the leading cause of death in the US | New Scientist

Since 1970, heart attack deaths have fallen almost 90 per cent in the US, though deaths from chronic heart conditions have significantly risen

newscientist.com

TL;DR: Over the past 50 years, heart attack deaths in the US have dropped by almost 90%, pulling them off the top spot in causes of death. This amazing turnaround is thanks to advances like stents, bypass surgery, statins, bystander CPR training and anti‐smoking campaigns.

What’s next: As more people survive heart attacks and live longer, chronic heart conditions—think heart failure, arrhythmias and hypertension‐related damage—have shot up (some by 450 percent!). Experts say it’s time to pivot from emergency fixes to keeping hearts healthy as we age, even if cause‐of‐death labels can be a bit messy.