title: New epidemiologic perspectives concerning mild-to-moderate heart failure.
abstract: Heart failure is emerging as a major component of the public health problem of cardiovascular disease as we move into the twenty-first century. Current statistics indicate 4.9 million US citizens are afflicted with direct treatment costs estimated to be $18.8 billion per year. These figures are expected to worsen substantially as the prevalence of heart failure continues to increase. Epidemiologic studies also point to important increases in morbidity and have identified risk factors that aid in prognosis and that may contribute to our mechanistic understanding of heart failure pathophysiology. In addition, epidemiologic results indicate that many patients with mild-to-moderate clinical heart failure are still at substantial risk for morbidity and mortality during follow-up periods of only a few years. These data highlight the importance of enhancing physician and public awareness of heart failure. New methods of molecular epidemiology will point toward better and earlier detection of this common and frequently fatal condition.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Medicine and Radiology, School of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 27599-7075, USA.
authors.forename: K F
authors.initials: KF
authors.lastname: Adams
mesh_terms: D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D009320:Atrial Natriuretic Factor / Q000097:blood; D003971:Diastole; D005260:Female; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D020097:Natriuretic Peptide, Brain / Q000097:blood; D015995:Prevalence; D011379:Prognosis; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D017678:Sex Distribution; D015996:Survival Rate; D013599:Systole; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D018754:Ventricular Dysfunction / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology
chemical_list: D020097:Natriuretic Peptide, Brain; D009320:Atrial Natriuretic Factor