Dramatic increase in obesity-related heart disease mortality – AHA 2024

Researchers report that the number of people in the U.S. who died from ischemic heart disease related to obesity increased by approximately 180% from 1999 to 2020.

The findings were presented on Nov. 11, 2024 at the American Heart Association’s annual scientific sessions.

“Obesity is a serious risk factor for ischemic heart disease, and this risk is going up at an alarming rate along with the increasing prevalence of obesity,” said lead author Aleenah Mohsin, M.D., M.B.B.S., a post-doctoral research fellow at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. “It is important for everyone, particularly people in high-risk groups, to take steps to manage their weight and reduce their risk of heart disease.” she added.

The investigators gathered and analyzed data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Wide-Ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research (CDC WONDER) database.

They identified deaths in the U.S. related to ischemic heart disease.

They reviewed both the crude death rates and age-adjusted death rates per 100,000 individuals.

They found a significant increase in the U.S. of deaths from obesity-related ischemic heart disease from 1999 to 2020 in the U.S.

They documented 226,267 ischemic heart disease obesity-related deaths over the 21 year period of the study.

They noted that all of the data was adjusted for age differences.

They reported a 5.03 annual percentage increase in the overall rate of obesity-related heart disease deaths.

The age-adjusted death rate in men rose from 2.1 deaths per 100,000 people in 1999 to 7.2 per 100,000 in 2020,  243% increase.

The rate among men ages 55-64 rose from 5.5 deaths per 100,000 people in 1999 to 14.6 deaths per 100,000 people in 2020, a 165% increase.

The age-adjusted death rate among women rose from 1.6 deaths per 100,000 people in 1999 to 3.7 per 100,000 in 2020, a 131% increase.

In 2020, the death rate was 4.0 deaths per 100,000 for people living in non-metropolitan areas, compared to 2.9 per 100,000 for those in urban areas.

“We did expect an increase in deaths related to obesity since the prevalence of obesity has been rising steadily for years. However, we did not anticipate this magnitude of increase in mortality, especially among middle-aged men,” Mohsin said.