Turning Discovery Into Health Only 6 decades ago, we didn’t know
what caused cardiovascular disease, and many Americans died of
heart attacks in their 50s or 60s. By the late 1940s,
cardiovascular disease was responsible for half of all U.S.
deaths. NIH-funded research, beginning with the Framingham Heart
Study in the late 1940s, helped to define the concept of risk
factors and changed the course of public health. Although heart
disease remains the leading cause of death nationwide, the death
rate for heart disease has dropped by more than 60% since 1940.
The death rate for stroke—the third most common cause of
death—declined by 70% over the same time period. Now we have new
and more effective treatments such as clot-buster drug therapy
to open up blocked arteries. We also know that heart attack,
sudden death, and stroke can often be prevented by quitting
smoking, controlling high blood pressure, exercising regularly,
and taking therapies like statins, aspirin, and beta-blockers.
Increasingly, we are able to