The American Heart Association turns 100 – how the US is leading the global fight against heart disease – reducing deaths by 70 percent

One hundred years ago this week, six Chicago cardiologists gathered to formally discuss America's unfolding heart health crisis.

These regular pontifications would soon become the most influential health organization in the country – and one of the largest in the world; the American Heart Association.

And to mark the charity's centenary, the Society has released a fascinating trip down memory lane, documenting the astonishing changes in the treatment and burden of the disease, which is the country's biggest killer.

Last but not least, the number of people dying from heart disease has fallen by 70 percent since its launch.

Senior members of the organization have commented on the miraculous transformation in patients' prospects – and told of a time when 'natural' remedies were the only treatments.

American Heart Association CEO Nancy Brown said the organization was created at a time of “almost unbelievable ignorance” about heart disease.

She said: “Through our relentless pursuit of life-saving research, science and innovation, and our unwavering support for patients, families and caregivers, we are creating healthier communities everywhere and transforming the way we all live, work and play, to enabling longer, healthier communities. lives.'

The occasion has shed new light on the great strides America has made in the war against heart disease.

Although the condition was a guaranteed death sentence at the time, today about three-quarters of men who suffer a heart attack are still alive five years later. The same goes for about half of women.

However, heart disease remains the number one killer of Americans, accounting for one in five deaths. Nearly 700,000 people die from heart disease in the US every year.

So what have we achieved so far – and what are doctors doing now to reduce deaths in the future?

The American Heart Association is the nation's largest and oldest volunteer organization dedicated to fighting heart disease and stroke.

The inspiration for the group's founding came in 1911 from Mary Wadley, a nurse and social worker at Bellevue Hospital in New York City, who felt more could be done for people suffering from heart disease.

The disease was a steadily growing problem due to skyrocketing obesity rates, a decline in physical activity linked to more office work and less factory and farm work.

Dietary changes, including more processed foods, and lifestyle behaviors such as smoking also contributed to the increase.

And as Americans gained more access to cars, it led to a decline in regular exercise.

At the time, the outlook for heart disease was considered so bleak that doctors were reluctant to tell their patients they had heart disease – because there was little health care professionals could do to help.

“One hundred years ago, heart disease was considered a death sentence,” said the late Dr. Paul Dudley White, a founding member of the American Heart Association.

“Little was known about what causes it and even less about how to care for people living and dying from it,” said Dr. Paul Dudley White, a founding member of the American Heart Association.

“It was recommended that patients with serious heart disease not inform this, but that a friend or family member should,” says noted cardiologist and leading scientist Dr. Eugene Braunwald, who at the age of 94 often is called the 'father of cardiology'. '

Dr. Baunwald explained that treatments for heart disease at the time were limited to lowering salt intake, bathing in warm water, and regular irrigation of the colon.

And if someone survived a heart attack, there was no specific treatment other than bed rest and a liquid diet, in the hope that rest would give the heart muscle time to heal.

But some doctors relied on early evidence suggesting that weight loss could slow the development of the condition.

The term heart disease refers to several types of heart disease, the most common of which is coronary artery disease.

The conditions occur when plaque builds up in the arteries and blood vessels leading to the heart, preventing oxygen and essential nutrients from reaching the heart.

Heart disease first emerged as a threat in the mid-20th century and remains the leading cause of death worldwide.

One reason heart disease is so deadly is that it often doesn't show many obvious symptoms until its late stages.

But improved diagnostic methods help detect the condition before it's too late.

The first electrocardiogram (ECG) machine was installed in Los Angeles in the 1920s. This records the heart's electrical signal to check that it is functioning properly, allowing doctors to more accurately evaluate and diagnose heart conditions.

Echocardiograms followed in the 1950s, which can help detect heart failure and damage from a heart attack.

But the sometimes silent nature of the condition remains a problem. Additionally, things like heart attacks manifest differently by gender and are sometimes diagnosed weeks or months later.

Now there are a wide range of treatments and prevention measures for heart disease, including artificial heart valves, pacemakers, cholesterol-lowering drugs and cardiopulmonary resuscitation techniques.

There is also a reduction in risk factors associated with heart disease, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, smoking and obesity.

American scientist Ancel Keys discovered in the 1950s that heart disease was rare in Mediterranean populations, where people ate a low-fat diet, leading to wider public awareness of how diet affected heart health.

In the 1960s and 1970s, treatments such as bypass surgery and percutaneous balloon angioplasty were first tried to help treat heart disease.

Stents appeared on the scene ten years later. These are small mesh tubes that are implanted in the artery to prevent narrowing.

There are a range of medications that widen blood vessels, including ACE inhibitors and beta blockers, which help lower blood pressure and reduce the hardness of your heart.

Calcium channel blockers lower blood pressure by relaxing blood vessels.

Nitrates, such as nitroglycerin, dilate your coronary arteries and relieve or prevent angina (chest pain). Ranolazine treats coronary microvascular disease and the chest pain it can cause.

There are also medications to control blood cholesterol levels, including statins, which slow the formation of plaque.

Weight management drugs such as semaglutide have recently been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease in overweight or obese people.