To Your Health: Study predicts increase in heart disease

A study published earlier this month by the American Heart Association predicts more than 60 percent of U.S. adults will have some type of cardiovascular disease by 2050.

The study uses collected data from 2020 and projected trends in the country’s population to speculate on how cardiovascular disease will change over a thirty-year period. Cardiovascular disease includes coronary artery disease (including heart attack), heart failure, arrhythmias, vascular disease, congenital heart disease, stroke and high blood pressure. But high blood pressure was assessed separately during the study, because it’s a major risk factor for stroke.

The biggest population shift driving the study’s prediction is that the Baby Boomer generation will continue to age into the 65 and older bracket through 2030 when about 1 in 5 U.S. adults will be over 65.

Since age is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, an aging population will logically increase the prevalence of cardiovascular disease.

At the same time, we’re becoming more diverse. Hispanic, Asian and multicultural populations are expected to double in the U.S. in coming decades, and more than two-thirds of children will live in underserved communities that are historically higher in chronic disease prevalence.

Major risk factors for cardiovascular disease are also expected to impact more Americans by 2050. Greater rates of high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity are anticipated to contribute to growing incidence of heart and vascular disease.

Fortunately, there are some helpful lifestyle decisions we’re starting to make more widely as a culture.

More Americans are exercising and fewer are smoking than in the past, and these trends are expected to continue. We’re also seeing a slight improvement in the number of folks who maintain a healthy diet, but there’s still a lot of work to do in that respect.

It’s impossible to know whether a study predicated on data projections can accurately depict our future health landscape, especially when we’re looking ahead thirty years. But we can certainly use these findings as motivation to reduce our own risk factors for cardiovascular disease. We all have the capability to:

Eat healthy. Choose lean meats and proteins in a diet rich with fruits and vegetables.

Exercise for at least 30 minutes a day, five days a week.

Monitor our cholesterol levels and blood pressure and work with our primary care physicians to keep them within healthy ranges.

Get good sleep by keeping a routine that allows for eight hours of rest and recovery each night.

Reduce stress by practicing mindfulness and balancing work with the joys of life.

Manage chronic conditions, like diabetes, which are major risk factors for other serious health conditions.

Quit smoking or refrain from ever starting.

There are risk factors like age and family history that we can’t control, but with every new study or discovery, we’re reminded that modifying the same risk factors that we’ve always been able to affect is our best tool for warding off cardiovascular disease.

So, here’s your friendly reminder to embrace the practices we mentioned above. You can create your own future when it comes to your heart health.

Dr. Alfred Casale, a cardiothoracic surgeon, is chief medical officer for surgical services for Geisinger and chair of the Geisinger Heart and Vascular Institute. Readers may write to him via ae@www.timesleader.com.