Overall, there was a slight increase in heart-related deaths in 2022, the most recent year for which final data is available, the 2025 Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics report says. Photo by Antoni Shkraba/ Pexels
Major heart health risk factors like obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure remain on the rise in the United States, according to an annual report from the American Heart Association. These risks are thwarting efforts to save lives from heart disease, heart attack, stroke and other lethal heart-related diseases, says the report published Monday in the AHA journal Circulation. Advertisement
Overall, there was a slight increase in heart-related deaths in 2022, the most recent year for which final data is available, the 2025 Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics report says.
There were 941,652 heart-related deaths in 2022, an increase of more than 10,000 from the 931,578 deaths in 2021.
The report indicates that heart-related deaths appear to be leveling out after a major uptick during the COVID-19 pandemic, the report says — but heart disease remains the No. 1 killer in the United States.
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Someone dies of heart disease every 34 seconds, amounting to nearly 2,500 people every day, noted Dr. Keith Churchwell, volunteer president of the American Heart Association.
Report: Obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure remain on the rise in U.S.
