HHS HealthBeat (March 20, 2008)

The record of the hearts

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

A heart can tell a story, and a researcher says it might not be a story of health.

Cynthia Leibson of the Mayo Clinic looked at results of autopsies of people from ages 16 to 64, who died of things like murder, accidents and suicide, as opposed to heart disease. Her study in Archives of Internal Medicine was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Liebson was examining rates of change in the amount of heart disease and clogged arteries between 1981 and 2004. At one time, there were healthy declines in the heart damage. She says this seems to have changed around the year 2000.

"The declines have leveled off, and there is some suggestion that the trends may be reversing." (6 seconds)

Liebson suspects rising obesity may be making things worse.

Learn more at hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: March, 19 2008