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After decades of decline in mortality from coronary heart disease (CHD), new study results reveal a sobering trend. Investigators analyzed U.S. vital statistics on deaths in individuals aged 35 and older from 1980 through 2002. Causes of death were coded according to ICD-9 classifications, and age- and sex-specific mortality rates from CHD were calculated.
In 1980, more than 500 per 100,000 women and 900 per 100,000 men died from CHD. By 2002, the overall age-adjusted CHD mortality rate in women had declined by 49% to just over 250 per 100,000, whereas the rate for men declined by 52% to approximately 400 per 100,000. The rates of decline decelerated during the 1990s, particularly for women aged 35 to 54. This age group experienced an annual…