Private MD News

Experts: Heart disease is a bigger problem than thought

Category: Heart Health and Cholesterol

Heart disease kills more Americans each year than any other condition, and a new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found that nearly half of all adults in the country have one of three conditions that can lead to cardiovascular disease.

The study looked at the incidences of people with high cholesterol, high blood pressure, or diabetes, all conditions that can lead to cardiovascular problems like heart attacks, and found that, in addition to half of all Americans having one of these conditions, one in eight has at least two.

Researcher, Clyde Yancy, told the Los Angeles Times that the findings show that the problem is much worse than most people previously thought, which calls for many people to reconsider some of their lifestyle choices.

"The number that really surprises me is the penetration of these conditions into the U.S. population," he told the news source. "When that number is nearly 50%, that's a huge wake-up call."

The U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention ranks heart disease as the number one killer in the U.S.