doi: 10.1161/01.CIR.0000051635.04584.21
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(Circulation. 2002;106:e9066.)
© 2002 American Heart Association, Inc.
Cardiovascular News
Circulation Newswriter
An extract of the first 250 words of the full text is provided, because this article has no abstract. |
One in 5 at Risk for Congestive Heart Failure
Relying on the landmark data from the Framingham Heart Study, a group of researchers has determined that one in 5 people is at risk of developing congestive heart failure—a growing epidemic worldwide. Their report appears in this week’s issue of Circulation (Circulation. 2002;106:3068–3072).
Led by Donald M. Lloyd-Jones, MD, of the study’s personnel, the researchers monitored the course of 3757 men and 4472 women from 1971 until 1996. Of those people, 583 developed congestive heart failure and 2002 died without a diagnosis of prior congestive heart failure.
They determined from these data that at age 40, the lifetime risk of developing heart failure was 21% for men and 20.3% for women. The risk for the remaining lifetime did not change significantly. For example, at age 80, the risk was 20.2% for men and 19.3% for women.
In men who had not had a myocardial infarction, lifetime risk was nearly half—11.4% for men. For women, the lifetime risk was 15.4%. The authors recommended using these results in health planning for the coming burden of congestive heart failure and in making policy decisions about prevention of the ailment by controlling hypertension and preventing heart attack.
Identifying the "Haywire Hearts" of Newborns
A condition in newborns that is similar to long-QT syndrome appears to be responsible for 1 in 20 deaths presently attributed to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), according to researchers led by Michael J. Ackerman, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. Dr Ackerman presented his results at the 75th Annual