Decrease in U.S. Deaths from Coronary Disease, 1980-2000
This article in the NEJM today, from NCCDPHP at the CDCP is well worth reading. The researchers focused on mortality from coronary heart disease in the United States, which has decreased substantially in recent decades. The study was to determine how much of this decrease could be explained by the use of medical and surgical treatments as opposed
to changes in cardiovascular risk factors. [NEJM 356;23 june 7, 2007] The burden of coronary heart disease in the United States remains enormous, even though associated mortality rates fell by more than 40% between 1980 and 2000. The largest contributions from medical therapies consistently came from secondary prevention.