Mapped: The highest (and lowest) heart disease death rates by state

What can be done to reduce the risk of heart disease?

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death for people ages 65 and older, and as the U.S. population ages, more people will be at-risk of developing heart conditions.

Over the next few decades, rates of cardiovascular disease are expected to increase significantly. In a 2022 study published in the Journal of American College of Cardiology, researchers estimated that several cardiovascular conditions, including coronary heart disease, heart failure, heart attacks, and strokes, will rise between 30% and 34% by 2060, with the greatest increase occurring between 2025 and 2030.

Gregory Roth, an associate professor of cardiology at the University of Washington School of Medicine, said that there needs to be an increased effort to educate individuals living in at-risk communities about “modifiable risk factors” of heart disease. These risk factors include high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity, diabetes, smoking, and more.

Separately, Michelle Albert, a cardiologist and current president of the American Heart Association, said that medical education needs to have an increased focus on social determinants of health, such as income, education, housing, and community characteristics, so healthcare providers are more prepared to address unmet health needs in vulnerable areas.

“We really need to be going into vulnerable communities and reaching people where they’re at to increase their knowledge of risk factors and how to reduce them,” said Natalie Bello, a cardiologist and director of hypertension research at the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

According to Bello, some suggestions to improve care in these areas include deploying more community health workers or expanding innovative programs, like bringing pharmacists into Black-owned barbershops to provide education to Black men.

“Now, more than ever, we have the medical therapies and technologies in place to treat cardiovascular conditions,” said Rishi Wadhera, a cardiologist and section head of health policy and equity research at the Smith Center for Outcomes Research in Cardiology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. (Taylor, Becker’s Hospital Review, 7/19; KFF Total Heart Disease Deaths, accessed 7/25)