Heart disease not the killer it was

The heart disease epidemic peaked in 1968, when it caused 30.5 per cent of all deaths.

The heart disease epidemic peaked in 1968, when it caused 30.5 per cent of all deaths.

In the 50 years since, ­advances in health understanding and available medical interventions have brought its share of the death toll down to 11.6 per cent. What’s more, people are living so much longer that dementia and Alzheimer’s disease have become the second-leading cause of death — up from 40th place.

The dominant causes of death almost two generations ago were ischaemic heart diseases (commonly heart attacks) and cerebrovascular diseases (commonly strokes), which accounted for 44.5 per cent of the toll. Now they are to blame for 17.9 per cent of cases combined.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics has charted the heart disease turnaround, noting that without the changes that have taken place since 1968, an extra 207,200 ­people would have died from cardio­vascular diseases in 2017. “The mortality rate for acute heart diseases, mostly heart ­attacks, has decreased by 91.5 per cent over the last 50 years,” said ABS health and vital statistics director James Eynstone-Hinkins.

While some of the top 10 killers in 1968 remain on the list, others have become less of a threat: road accidents have dropped from fourth to 28th (compulsory seatbelts started to be rolled out in 1970, followed by random breath testing in 1982).