CDC VITAL SIGNS TM
39
Every 39 seconds an adult dies from heart attack, stroke or other cardiovascular disease.
1 in 2
Nearly 68 million people have high blood pressure but about 1 in 2 doesn’t have it under control.
2 in 3
71 million US adults have high cholesterol but 2 in 3 don’t have it under control.
Heart disease, stroke, and other cardiovascular (blood vessel) diseases are among the leading cause of death and now kill more than 800,000 adults in the US each year. Of these, 150,000 are younger than age 65. These diseases are also two of the leading causes of health disparities in the US. Treatment of these diseases accounts for 1 in every 6 US health dollars spent. Two main reasons people have heart disease or stroke are high blood pressure* and cholesterol, which are common, deadly, and preventable. Nearly 2 out of 3 adults with high cholesterol and about half of adults with high blood pressure don’t have their condition yet under control. Clearly, other steps are needed to gain control of these health risks.
* High blood pressure means at least 140/90 mmHg. High cholesterol in this report means high LDL (“bad”) cholesterol.
Source: CDC http://www.cdc.gov “High Blood Pressure and Cholesterol“ http://www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns/CardiovascularDisease Accessed December 2, 2015.
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