The epidemiology of heart failure

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Heart failure is becoming increasingly common. More than 20 million people worldwide are estimated to have heart failure. Prevalence is rising because the population is ageing: in both men and women, the prevalence of heart failure in those aged 80–89 years is roughly 10 times the prevalence in those aged 50–59 years. Coronary artery disease is now the most common cause of heart failure. Better treatment of myocardial infarction means that more people survive with impaired myocardial function, and some of these will develop heart failure in time. Hypertension is also an important contributing factor. Valvular disease, once a major cause of heart failure, has become less prevalent. The median survival after diagnosis of heart failure was only 1.7 years for men and 3.2 years for women, according to Framingham data for the years 1948 to 1988. After five years, only 25% of men and 38% of women were still alive. Preventive and treatment measures have improved this picture somewhat: deaths from heart failure have decreased by about 12% per decade. However, heart failure continues to carry a grave prognosis.