MISSION,
Kan., April 29, 2024 /PRNewswire/
-- (Family Features) Before the advent of antibiotics,
infectious diseases, such as pneumonia, tuberculosis and
diphtheria, were the most common causes of death in the
industrialized world. Today, heart disease is the leading cause of
death in the United States, and
has been since 1921, according to the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention.
However, more than half of people in the U.S. (51%) aren't aware
of that fact, according to a Harris Poll survey conducted on behalf
of the American Heart Association. What's more, nearly half of all
people in the U.S. (48.6%) have some type of cardiovascular disease
(CVD), including coronary heart disease, heart failure, stroke or,
most notably, high blood pressure, according to the annual
statistical update, "2024 Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics: A
Report of U.S. and Global Data From the American Heart
Association," published in "Circulation."
"Heart disease along with stroke, which is the fifth-leading
cause of death, claim more lives in the U.S. than all forms of
cancer and chronic lower respiratory disease combined, based on the
most recent data available," said Joseph C.
Wu, M.D., Ph.D., FAHA, volunteer president of the American
Heart Association, director of the Stanford Cardiovascular
Institute and the Simon H. Stertzer Professor of Medicine and
Radiology at Stanford School of Medicine. "Finding that most people
do not know the significant impact of heart disease is discouraging
and even a bit frightening."
While death rates from CVD have declined 60% since 1950 and the
number of people in the U.S. dying from heart attack has dropped
from 1 in 2 in the '50s to about 1 in 8 today, challenges still
remain.
In 2024, with Bold Hearts – the American Heart Association's
centennial celebration – the organization celebrates 100 years of
progress and identified several issues that must be addressed to
make the next century of life-saving work as impactful as the first
100 years:
- Scientific literacy must be enhanced to increase
public knowledge and understanding about the methods and
interpretation of scientific data.
- Non-traditional approaches to health care are
needed to address the social and structural determinants of health
by moving evidence-based approaches rapidly into communities to
address food insecurity, transportation problems, education,
housing, access to care, chronic psychosocial stress and other
social needs.
- The interconnectedness of organ systems, mechanisms of
disease and stages of life are critical to understanding
the role cardiovascular health plays in overall health.
- Appreciation of systems of care will
be important to achieving significant clinical benefits.
Reliance on individual physicians may not be realistic in managing
diseases involving multiple organ systems such as
cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic disease or disorders affecting the
heart, brain and mind simultaneously.
- More funding for research is a critical need due to
the pace of scientific advances. In the next century, laboratory
experiments may demand more sophisticated equipment, translational
science will incorporate expensive new technologies like artificial
intelligence and population health will require greater computing
power and larger sample sizes.
"There is much to learn from this historic shift in the
reduction of deaths from infectious diseases and the current
prevalence in deaths from cardiovascular diseases," Wu said.
"Through scientific research, technological advances and public
health policy, most of these infectious diseases have become
controlled, and many have been or are nearly eradicated. As we
apply these same clinical and epidemiological methods to the
someday hopeful eradication of heart disease and stroke, the
American Heart Association is making great progress. Although still
too many people die each year, many are living longer, more
productive lives while managing their cardiovascular disease and
risk factors."
To learn more, visit heart.org/centennial.
Michael French
mfrench@familyfeatures.com
1-888-824-3337
editors.familyfeatures.com
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