A new national study shows that Black Americans are being diagnosed with heart failure nearly 14 years sooner than White Americans, underscoring deep racial gaps in health outcomes.
Researchers at Northwestern Medicine examined the records of more than 42,000 patients treated at hundreds of hospitals across the country between 2016 and 2019. They found that heart failure typically develops around age 60 for Black patients, compared with nearly 74 for White patients. “Our study shows that social risk factors, including insurance status and area-level educational and economic opportunities, played a major role,” said lead author Xiaoning Huang, a research assistant professor of cardiology at Northwestern’s Feinberg School of Medicine.
Heart failure, a life-threatening condition in which the heart cannot pump blood efficiently, affects more than 6 million Americans. The earlier onset in Black communities is linked to systemic inequities that limit access to high-quality care, healthy food, and stable economic opportunities. These factors, Huang noted, shape people’s health long before symptoms appear.
The findings highlight the urgent need for earlier screening and prevention in Black communities. Huang emphasized that prevention “means starting earlier and screening risk factors sooner,” while also connecting patients to social resources alongside medical treatment. Without broad societal changes, he warned, disparities in heart disease will persist, dictated by “your ZIP code or your racial background.”
See: “Heart Failure Strikes Black Americans an Average 14 Years Earlier” (September 2, 2025)
