US death rate involving liver disease and heart failure rose
Death rates adjusted for age rose from 1.54 to 3.79 per 100,000 US adults aged 25 and older from 1999 to 2023.
Limit: The study did not cover people younger than 25
Edited by Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News
An observational study of US adults aged 25 and older analyzed 117,003 deaths recorded from 1999 through 2023. Each listed chronic liver disease as the underlying cause and heart failure as a contributing factor. Researchers used a US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention database and adjusted death rates for differences in age.
Rates initially declined until 2009, then rose. Rates were higher in men, adults aged 65 and older, non-Hispanic American Indian/Alaska Native people, rural areas, and the South and West. For 2020–2023, researchers compared recorded mortality with expectations modeled from pre-pandemic trends. Mortality averaged 58.2% above those expectations, an excess of 1.31 deaths per 100,000 annually. Younger adults had the highest relative surge, at 91.8%.
Why it matters
The authors called for coordinated liver and heart care, an issue relevant to older adults living with both conditions.
Caveats
Death-record data and modeled comparisons cannot establish that the pandemic caused the increase. These findings came from a conference abstract and did not cover people younger than 25.
The paper
Arizona Heart Doctor; Mayo Clinic
ESC Congress 2026 Abstract, Oct 26, 2026
Presented at ESC Congress 2026
