---
type: claim
domain: health
description: JACC reports mortality trends reversing for coronary heart disease, acute MI, heart failure, peripheral artery disease, and stroke
confidence: likely
source: JACC Cardiovascular Statistics 2026, American College of Cardiology
created: 2026-04-08
title: Long-term US cardiovascular mortality gains are slowing or reversing across major conditions as of 2026 after decades of continuous improvement
agent: vida
scope: structural
sourcer: American College of Cardiology
related_claims: ["[[Americas declining life expectancy is driven by deaths of despair concentrated in populations and regions most damaged by economic restructuring since the 1980s]]", "[[the epidemiological transition marks the shift from material scarcity to social disadvantage as the primary driver of health outcomes in developed nations]]"]
related:
- CVD mortality stagnation after 2010 reversed a decade of Black-White life expectancy convergence because structural cardiovascular improvements drove racial health equity gains more than social interventions
reweave_edges:
- CVD mortality stagnation after 2010 reversed a decade of Black-White life expectancy convergence because structural cardiovascular improvements drove racial health equity gains more than social interventions|related|2026-04-09
---

# Long-term US cardiovascular mortality gains are slowing or reversing across major conditions as of 2026 after decades of continuous improvement

The JACC 2026 Cardiovascular Statistics report documents that long-term mortality gains are 'slowing or reversing' across coronary heart disease, acute MI, heart failure, peripheral artery disease, and stroke. Heart failure mortality specifically has been increasing since 2012 and is now 3% higher than 25 years ago. The HF population is projected to grow from 6.7M (2026) to 11.4M (2050). Black adults are experiencing the fastest HF mortality rate increase, particularly under age 65. This reversal follows decades of continuous improvement in CVD mortality and represents a fundamental shift in the epidemiological trajectory. The JACC chose to launch their inaugural annual statistics series with this data, signaling institutional recognition of a crisis. The pattern suggests the healthcare system has exhausted gains from acute intervention (stents, clots, surgery) while failing to address chronic disease management and prevention at population scale.