HUNTSVILLE LIVING | FEBRUARY 2024 | 11
Primed to Kill More
Blacks and Hispanics
Northwestern University ’ s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago , who was not involved with the research .
Of course , medical advances , public health policies , and other developments could alter the outlook for cardiovascular disease over the next several decades .
More than 80 % of cardiovascular deaths occur among adults 65 or older . For about a dozen years , the total number of cardiovascular deaths in this age group has steadily ticked upward , as the ranks of older adults have expanded and previous progress in curbing fatalities from heart disease and strokes has been undermined by Americans ’ expanding waistlines , poor diets , and physical inactivity .
Among people 65 and older , cardiovascular deaths plunged 22 % between 1999 and 2010 , according to data from the National Heart , Lung , and Blood Institute — a testament to new medical and surgical therapies and treatments and a sharp decline in smoking , among other public health initiatives . Then between 2011 and 2019 , deaths climbed 13 %.
The covid-19 pandemic has also added to the death toll , with coronavirus infections causing serious complications such as blood clots and millions of seniors avoiding seeking medical care out of fear of becoming infected . Most affected have been low-income individuals , and older non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic people , who have died from the virus at disproportionately higher rates than non-Hispanic white people .
“ The pandemic laid bare ongoing health inequities ,” and that has fueled a new wave of research into disparities across various medical conditions and their causes , said Nakela Cook , a cardiologist and executive director of the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute , an independent organization authorized by Congress .
One of the most detailed examinations yet , published in JAMA Cardiology in March , examined mortality rates in Hispanic , non-Hispanic Black , and non-Hispanic white populations from 1990 to 2019 in all 50 states and the District of Columbia . It showed that Black men remain at the highest risk of dying from cardiovascular disease , especially in Southern states along the Mississippi River and in the northern Midwest . ( The age-adjusted mortality rate from cardiovascular disease for Black men in 2019 was 245 per 100,000 , compared with 191 per
HUNTSVILLE LIVING | FEBRUARY 2024 | 11