Research shows obesity is slowing heart disease progress

There's more evidence of what obesity is doing to Americans' health.

Heart disease deaths aren't dropping as fast as they were and experts think those extra pounds are the cause.

Heart-related deaths had been dropping by more than two percent a year for 50 years, but death records from 1999 to 2017 show a shift in the past ten years.

There's only been a slight decline in deaths from heart disease, while those due to stroke and diabetes have plateaued, and deaths due to high blood pressure-related problems like kidney disease are rising.

With drops in smoking and a host of new drugs and procedures, study leaders say the decline should be increasing, not shrinking.

They worry what will happen in the next 5 to 10 years.