The study shows that in 2005, there were 160,000 fewer deaths, the latest year which the CDC has compiled detailed mortality data. The AHA calculates that the 2008 data will show a 36 percent drop in heart disease deaths and a 34 percent drop in stroke deaths compared with 1999.
But AHA president Dan Jones, MD, vice chancellor for health affairs at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, says there are troubling signs the trend may not hold.
"I don't think we should assume continued progress," Jones tells WebMD. "In some areas, there has been little or no progress. For example, if you look at child obesity and the increasing rates of diabetes and heart disease that will come from that -- well, unless we get that under control we will see a leveling off or worsening of heart disease and stroke death rates in days to come."
Jones points to several factors why heart stroke deaths are down: - improved emergency treatment for stroke, improve treatment for heart attack, improved treatment for blocked arteries, widespread use of cholesterol-lowering statin drugs, aggressive management of high blood pressure and antismoking and clean-air legislation.
Jones also noted that many of today's advances are the returns on investments made years ago in basic.
But still Americans can do better in reducing risk factor. Coronary heart disease kills almost half a million Americans each year.
