Heart failure deaths have doubled among younger, middle-aged Americans, report finds

Heart failure deaths are increasing steadily in the U.S., fueled by a rise in deaths among young and middle-aged adults, a new report says.

Until recently, heart failure had been a disease affecting mainly seniors.

But heart failure deaths have doubled among people 25 to 64 years old, far outpacing increases among seniors, according to the report from the Heart Failure Society of America.

“We have made extraordinary advances in our ability to treat heart failure, yet at the population level, the burden of heart failure continues to move in the wrong direction,” report committee chair Dr. Eiran Gorodeski said in a news release. He’s director of the Advanced Heart Failure & Transplant Center at the University Hospitals Harrington Heart & Vascular Institute in Cleveland.

The report—published Oct. 5 in the Journal of Cardiac Failure—”shows not only that more Americans are at risk, but that mortality is rising and younger adults are increasingly affected,” Gorodeski said.

Heart failure occurs when the heart muscle becomes so weak that it cannot keep up with the body’s demands for oxygen- and nutrient-rich blood, according to the American Heart Association.

About one in four Americans will develop heart failure during their lifetime, according to the new report. Currently, about a third of U.S. adults are at risk for heart failure.

Overall, heart failure deaths increased 37% between 2010 and 2023, reversing more than a decade of previous progress, the report said.

Heart failure deaths increased 121% among young adults 25 to 44 between 2010 and 2020, and 96% among adults 45 to 64. By comparison, the report noted heart failure deaths increased among seniors 65 and older by about 23%.

Heart failure risk is being driven by other chronic health problems that increasingly affect younger Americans, according to the report. For example, one in three people with heart failure have high blood pressure, one in three have obesity and two in five have diabetes.

Black Americans have the highest rates of heart failure, more than triple those found among Asian Americans and more than double those of white men and women, the report said.

The Deep South, Appalachian and lower Midwest states had the highest rates of heart failure, with four Southern states—Mississippi, Oklahoma, Alabama and Arkansas—repeatedly ranking among the five states with the highest rates of heart failure deaths.

The cost burden of heart failure is projected to increase in the U.S., rising from $312 billion to $858 billion by 2050, the report concluded.

“These findings underscore the urgency of translating what we know into better prevention, earlier recognition, greater use of proven therapies and continued research,” Gorodeski said.

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