Cardiovascular research: decades of progress, a decade of promise.

Mortality due to cardiovascular diseases has decreased more than 30 percent in the last 30 years, and this decline has accelerated so much that over 60 percent of it has occurred between 1970 and 1980. The past and present contributions of advances in cardiovascular research to this decline are reviewed. Although three have been significant research accomplishments, too many people still die of heart and blood vessel diseases. Continued emphasis must be placed on research in the areas of etiology and pathogenesis, on validating potentially beneficial research hypotheses, and on the translation and dissemination of research results to the health care practitioner and the public. Only then can our long-term goal, the prevention of cardiovascular disease, be fully realized.