Health Update: Health Update: Heart disease, strokes declined but still top cause of death – What Experts Say– What Experts Say.
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Deaths from heart disease and stroke have declined in recent years, but they remain the leading cause of death for Americans, according to a new report from the American Heart Association.
In the annual report, published Jan. 21 in the association’s peer-reviewed journal Circulation, researchers found cardiovascular disease accounted for 915,973 deaths in 2023, down from 941,652 in 2022. Cardiovascular diseases include heart disease, stroke, hypertension and heart failure.
The recent decline follows a five-year upward trend likely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the authors note.
“It’s encouraging to see that total deaths from heart disease and stroke declined. The past five years appear to have been an anomaly given the huge impact the pandemic had on all health during that time,” Dr. Stacey E. Rosen, volunteer president of the American Heart Association, said in a news release. “The fact remains that heart disease and stroke continue to take the lives of too many of our loved ones each and every day.”
The authors also found cardiovascular diseases claim more lives in the United States each year than the second and third leading causes of death combined, which are cancer and accidents. On average, someone died of cardiovascular disease every 34 seconds in 2023, according to the report.
Despite the total number of stroke deaths dropping for the first time in several years, they increased among younger and older age groups. For example, the stroke death rate increased 8.3% between 2013 and 2023 among those 25 to 34 years old and increased 18.2% among those older than 85.
“This is a surprising and concerning shift, as stroke most often occurs in patients over the age of 65,” Dr. William Shutze, Society for Surgery Ambassador and vascular surgeon at Texas Vascular Associates in Houston, told USA TODAY.
Shutze, who was not part of the report, said a higher number of young adults with risk factors may explain the increase in stroke in younger people.
“According to this report, the incidence of risk factors which contribute to stroke such as hypertension, diabetes, inactivity and tobacco use continue to increase year over year,” he added.
How to reduce your heart disease risk
While you can’t control family history, sex, age and menopausal status, there are a few modifiable lifestyle and health factors where you make adjustments to reduce your risk for heart disease, Dr. Karol Watson, the co-director of the UCLA Program in Preventive Cardiology and director of the UCLA Women’s Cardiovascular Health Center, previously told USA TODAY.
Health experts often estimate heart disease is at least 80% preventable, Watson added.
Those modifiable factors include high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes and smoking.
A 2025 study from the Journal of the American College of Cardiology found 99% of the people who experienced a heart attack, stroke or heart failure had been exposed to at least one of the four risk factors – high cholesterol, blood pressure, blood glucose or smoking — above an acceptable level.
The American Heart Association also has its own guidance for preventing heart disease and stroke called Life’s Essential 8. This guidance encourages focusing on four health behaviors, including eating better, being more active, quitting tobacco and sleeping better. It also recommends properly managing four health factors, including managing weight, cholesterol, blood sugar and blood pressure.
This guidance is largely similar to prevention advice from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which emphasizes proper eating, staying active, quitting smoking and managing weight, cholesterol, diabetes and blood pressure.