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Researchers said men at age 40 in the U.S. have a one-in-eight chance of suffering sudden cardiac death over the rest of their lives, a stark indication of the toll cardiovascular disease exacts on society.
For women, researchers said, the risk is 1 in 24. The prevalence has long been of concern to heart and public-health experts, but lifetime risks for the condition haven't previously been estimated, researchers said.
Some 300,000 Americans a year suffer sudden cardiac death, an event generally defined as death resulting from coronary heart disease within an hour of the onset of symptoms. Heart attack is the most common cause, but valve disease, infections and heart-beat irregularities can also result in sudden cardiac death.
'Sudden cardiac death is one of the most devastating manifestations' of coronary heart disease, said Donald M. Lloyd-Jones, a cardiologist at Northwestern University, Chicago, who led the effort to calculate the estimates. It is particularly problematic because 'it strikes without warning' and can happen to young people as well as old, he said.
'It's fairly astonishing data,' said Muriel Jessup, a cardiologist at University of Pennsylvania who headed the program committee for the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions here, where the findings were presented Sunday, and who wasn't involved in the study.
The condition may get less attention because of a belief that little can be done to prevent it, she said. But she and other scientists said steps can be taken to prevent the problem.
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