death rates

Infectious heart disease is still a major killer in spite of improvements in health care, but the way the disease develops has changed so much since its discovery that nineteenth century doctors would not recognize it, scientists report.

Regular coffee drinking (up to 6 cups per day) is not associated with increased deaths in either men or women.

In fact, both caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee consumption is associated with a somewhat smaller rate of death from heart disease.

Heart attack patients arriving at hospitals at night, weekends or holidays were slightly less likely to receive emergency angioplasty or receive it in a timely fashion.

Death rates were similar for those arriving during regular and off-hours.

Hospitals that participate in clinical trials appear to provide better care for patients with heart attacks or other acute heart events and have lower death rates than hospitals that do not participate in clinical trials, according to a new report.