U.S. deaths from heart disease and stroke dropped about 25 percent from 1999 to 2005, thanks to improvements in medical treatment, the American Heart Association said on Tuesday.

The researchers gathered information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and discovered that the rate of death from coronary heart disease fell 26 percent from about 195 per 100,000 Americans in 1999 to about 144 per 100,000 in 2005.

The number of deaths from strokes also fell 24 percent, from 62 per 100,000 Americans in 1999 to about 47 per 100,000 in 2005.

“This is dramatic decrease in the death rate. It’s very meaningful. This is the fastest rate of decrease that we’ve seen. There are some signs that if we don’t reinvigorate our efforts at prevention, that we may not see this progress continue,” said Dr. Daniel Jones, president of the American Heart Association.

Dr. Jones said that better treatments for both heart disease and stroke, with new medications and technologies and new treatment guidelines had contributed to the reduction in death. Moreover, there were cited better drugs and treatment guidelines to control blood pressure and cholesterol and a reduction in smoking rates, which contributed to fewer deaths.

Furthermore, Dr Jones said, “not everyone is benefiting” from these treatments. “Health disparities across race and geography mean that not everyone has rates that are falling as fast as for everyone.” For examples, deaths from heart disease have dropped 26.9 percent for women compared to 23.7 percent for men. Deaths from heart disease among blacks have dropped 20.3 percent compared with 25 percent for whites.

“There are still disparities across economic, education, gender, race, and geographic lines. If you combine those -- say for African-Americans living in the Deep South -- there is a substantial disparity. We know these are complex issues, but we can overcome many of these disparities. Access to care is one thing we can and should solve in our country,” Jones said.

Dr. C Fonarow, a professor of cardiology at the University of California, Los Angeles welcomed the findings of the study, but underlined the fact that “cardiovascular risk factor control is still far from ideal and preventable.” He added that cardiovascular events still occurs and the American Heart Association, the CDC and other organization should further support people in improving their health.

If continued this way, the American Heart Association predicts that about 240,000 lives will be saved by the end of 2008.