It’s well known that heart disease is the U.S.’s top cause of death, and our rising CVD rates have been widely covered, but a look back on some of the biggest stories of 2024 suggests that cardiovascular disease is about to become a much bigger problem.
- Heart Disease in 2050 – The AHA warned of massive heart disease increases by 2050, spanning CVD (+60%), diabetes (+100%), obesity (+70%), hypertension (+44%), heart failure (+66%), and stroke (+100%). Add all that up and the cost of treating adult CVD and stroke patients will increase by 195% to $1.85 trillion, representing 4.6% of US GDP.
- America Has CKM Syndrome – The vast majority of Americans are at risk of developing cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic (CKM) syndrome. A JAMA analysis of 11k adults revealed that only 10.6% had no CKM syndrome risk factors, while 26% were at Stage 1 (overweight, prediabetes), 49% were Stage 2 (hypertension, diabetes, CKD), 5% had Stage 3 (kidney disease or high CVD risks), and 9% were Stage 4 (heart disease, with or without kidney disease).
- U.S. Hypertension Problems: Another JAMA study highlighted the U.S.’s massive hypertension diagnosis and treatment problems. A survey of 7.3k U.S. adults (4k with hypertension) revealed that 79% of participants with hypertension didn’t have their BP under control, and 57.6% didn’t even know they had the disease. Meanwhile, only 30% of the participants who were actually aware of their hypertension had their BP under control.
- AFib Wakeup Call – A JACC study suggested that atrial fibrillation is far more prevalent than many thought. Analysis of 29M Californian’s records revealed that a whopping 2M (6.8%) of them had been diagnosed with AFib, with rates increased dramatically during the study period (4.49% in 2005-2009 >>> 6.82% in 2015-2019). If applied across the U.S., at least 10.55M Americans are currently diagnosed with AFib, representing 4.48% the U.S. adult population.
The Takeaway
These truly frightening statistics suggest that the U.S. is due for a wave of new CVD cases unless we make some major changes to how we live and deliver care. And we better get working on both fast, considering that another 2024 study revealed that 46.3% of U.S. counties don’t have a single cardiologist.
