Heart attack rates fell 24 percent in California between 2000 and 2008, probably because of better care, U.S. researchers reported Wednesday.

The study, in the New England Journal of Medicine, is the first large survey since the adoption of new treatments and medicines for preventing heart attacks. It examined more than 46,000 heart attack hospitalizations.

Dr. Robert Yeh of Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston and colleagues said the 24 percent drop was seen even though doctors can better detect heart attacks and despite the growing rates of diabetes and obesity, both of which raise the risk of heart attack.

“We would expect an increase in heart attacks because we’re picking up more heart attacks than we used to,” Yeh said in a telephone interview. “We found that, despite that, they are still going down.”

His team used data from the 3 million people in the Kaiser Permanente Northern California health system.

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Why Should You be Active?

Physical activity is one of the most important things you can do to maintain your physical and mental health and quality of life as you get older. Walking, stretching, and keeping your muscles in good condition will help you to maintain your independence.

Physical Inactivity Makes your Body Age Faster!

Independent living depends on being able to do the things you want to do when you want to do them. To stay independent you need to be able to reach, bend, lift, carry, and move around easily. Staying physically active will help you to keep moving, and stay strong.

Think about these facts…

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