For many years, fewer and fewer young American adults have been dying from heart failure. But new research in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology shows an alarming reversal of that trend in recent years. The study shows those types of deaths are now climbing nationwide, especially among adults ages 35 to 64.

            What’s behind this change? In the video, Dr. Andrew Sauer, director of the Heart Failure Program and co-director of heart transplantation at The University of Kansas Health System, says there may be several factors. It may be tied in to the obesity epidemic, the high blood pressure epidemic and the increase in the number of people developing diabetes. Dr. Sauer also says residents in smaller Kansas communities are particularly hard hit by heart failure and he explains why. He further explains what heart failure is and its symptoms and how it’s treated. Most importantly, he talks about what people can do to prevent the disease.