Who Is At Risk for Heart Failure?

About 5 million people in the United States have heart failure, and it results in about 300,000 deaths each year. The number of people who have heart failure is growing. Each year, another 550,000 people are diagnosed for the first time. Heart failure is more common in:

• People who are 65 or older. Aging can weaken the heart muscle. Older people also may have had a disease for many years that causes heart failure. Heart failure is the #1 reason for hospital visits in this age group.
• African Americans. African Americans are more likely than people of other races to have heart failure and to suffer from more severe forms of it. They’re also more likely than other groups to have symptoms at a younger age, get worse faster, have more hospital visits due to heart failure, and die from heart failure.
• People who are overweight or obese. Excess weight puts a greater strain on the heart. It also can lead to type II diabetes, which adds to the risk of heart failure.

Men have a higher rate of heart failure than women. But in actual numbers, more women have the condition. This is because many more women than men live into their seventies and eighties when it’s common.

Children with congenital heart defects also can develop heart failure. Children are born with these defects when the heart, heart valves, and/or blood vessels near the heart don’t form correctly. This can weaken the heart muscle and lead to heart failure.

Children don’t have the same symptoms or get the same treatment for heart failure as adults. This article focuses on heart failure in adults.