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AHA: Nearly Half of Americans Have Heart Disease
The proportion of Americans with some form of cardiovascular disease (CVD) has risen to approximately 48%, according to updated statistics from the American Heart Association (AHA).1
The increase in CVD is primarily due to the 2017 hypertension guideline issued by the AHA and American College of Cardiology, which lowered the threshold for hypertension to 130/80 mm Hg, and in turn resulted in more patients classified as having hypertension. Excluding hypertension, the prevalence of CVD in the United States is 9%.
The report, which incorporates the most recent available data on the top causes of mortality, indicates that CVD remains the number one cause of death worldwide. In the United States, CVD deaths rose from 836,546 in 2015 to 840,678 deaths in 2016.
AHA researchers reiterated in their report that nearly 80% of CVD could be prevented by controlling hypertension, diabetes, and high cholesterol. Practicing behaviors like smoking cessation, eating a healthy diet, exercising, and maintaining a healthy weight can also help patients lower their CVD risk.
“As one of the most common and dangerous risk factors for heart disease and stroke, this overwhelming presence of high blood pressure can’t be dismissed from the equation in our fight against cardiovascular disease,” said Ivor J. Benjamin, MD, volunteer president of the AHA and director of the Cardiovascular Center at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, in a press release.2
“Research has shown that eliminating high blood pressure could have a larger impact on CVD deaths than the elimination of all other risk factors among women and all except smoking among men,” Dr Benjamin continued.
—Christina Vogt
References:
1. Benjamin EJ, Muntner P, Alonso A, et al; American Heart Association Council on Epidemiology and Prevention Statistics Committee and Stroke Statistics Subcommittee. Heart disease and stroke statistics—2019 update. Circulation. 2019;139. doi:10.1161/CIR.0000000000000659.
2. Nearly half of all adult Americans have cardiovascular disease [press release]. Dallas, TX. American Heart Association. January 31, 2019. https://newsroom.heart.org/news/nearly-half-of-all-u-s-adults-have-some-form-of-cardiovascular-disease. Accessed on January 31, 2019.
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