48% of American Adults Have Cardiovascular Disease (CVD)
According to statistics 1 by the American Heart Association (AHA), nearly half (48%) of all American adults have some form of cardiovascular disease (CVD) — a classification that includes high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, heart failure and stroke — and deaths from CVD are again on the rise, after decades of being on the decline. In 2016, there were 840,678 recorded deaths from CVD in the U.S., up from 836,546 the year before. In 2019 the number rose even further, 2 to 874,613. The rise in prevalence of CVD, however, is primarily driven by updated blood pressure guidelines, which as of 2017 identify a blood pressure over 130/80 mm Hg as hypertensive; previously the cutoff was 140/90 mm Hg. According to the AHA, about 80% of CVD cases could be prevented by maintaining a healthy lifestyle, which includes lowering high blood pressure and high cholesterol, controlling Type 2 diabetes, avoiding smoking, exercising and maintaining a healthy weight. To this, the AHA has n...