Heart disease deaths decrease but it’s still America’s most deadly condition

Data reveals spike in coronary heart disease deaths related to the Covid-19 pandemic have eased, but lifestyle changes remain ‘essential’

The number of Americans dying from heart disease and stroke has fallen for the first time in five years, according to new national data, a shift researchers say reflects a gradual recovery from the disruptions of the Covid‑19 pandemic.

However, despite the improvement, heart disease remains the country’s leading cause of death, and stroke has climbed to fourth place.

The findings come from the American Heart Association’s 2026 Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics Update, which reports that together the two conditions accounted for more than a quarter of all U.S. deaths in 2023, the most recent year with complete data.

The report found that cardiovascular deaths declined from 941,652 in 2022 to 915,973 in 2023.

Deaths due to coronary heart disease – the most common form of cardiovascular disease – fell to 349,470 in 2023, down from 371,506 the year before. Meanwhile, stroke deaths decreased to 162,639, compared with 165,393 in 2022.

A fall in heart disease deaths in America has brought to an end a five-year-long spike in higher deaths linked to the Covid-19 pandemic (Getty/iStock)

The research team said the decrease in heart disease deaths has brought to an end a five-year-long spike in higher deaths, which they linked to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the various effects the disease and responses to it wrought on Americans.

“It’s encouraging to see that total deaths from heart disease and stroke declined,” said Stacey E. Rosen, M.D., FAHA, volunteer president of the American Heart Association.

“The past five years appear to have been an anomaly given the huge impact the pandemic had on all health during that time.”

She added, “The fact remains that heart disease and stroke continue to take the lives of too many of our loved ones each and every day. Together, they still kill more people than the number 2 and number 3 causes of death which include all types of cancer and accidents combined.”

In 1970, 41 per cent of all U.S. deaths were attributed to heart problems, but since that peak, deaths from heart attacks have dropped by almost 90 per cent; as a result, overall deaths due to heart issues are now down to making up 22 per cent of all deaths.

Ziad Mallat, a professor of cardiovascular medicine at the University of Cambridge in the U.K., told The Independent the results of the AHA’s statistics update this year were “mixed”.

While he said it was “encouraging to see a decline from previous years after the Covid-19 pandemic … we have an ageing population and still a high prevalence of risk factors.”

He also noted that the report shows an increase in rates of stroke death among certain age groups.

Research shows that people who meet their recommended daily fibre intake have a lower risk of developing, or dying from, several health conditions such as coronary heart disease (Getty/iStock)

Overall, he said that heart conditions remain a major factor in the cause of death because there remains a “high prevalence of risk factors”, which include “high prevalence of cardiometabolic syndromes, including obesity, with risk of diabetes, persistent high prevalence of high blood pressure, and suboptimal control of LDL-cholesterol levels, and of course, an ageing population.”

Asked what people can do to improve their heart health, he said: “It's important to remember that heart attacks and strokes occur late in life, but they are shaped by a lifetime of exposure to risk factors.”

Citing the AHA’s Life’s Essential 8 healthy lifestyle guidance, he said, “lifestyle changes are essential.”

The AHA said recent research suggests that adopting the guidance can help prevent heart disease and stroke and also contribute to better brain health.

“The good news is that, overall, fewer people are dying from any cause, and death rates are improving as life expectancy continues to rebound after the COVID‑19 pandemic,” said the AHA’s Latha P. Palaniappan, who is also professor of cardiovascular medicine at Stanford University.

She added, “However, about half of all U.S. adults continue to have some form of cardiovascular disease. Those rates are still higher than they were before the pandemic and persistent increases in common conditions like high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity continue to drive the risk.”

Speaking about the adoption of Life’s Essential 8 guidance, Professor Palaniappan said: “There is a growing body of scientific evidence that shows following these eight measures can dramatically reduce the overall burden of cardiovascular disease.”