The American Heart Association has published on-line its latest statistics on cardiovascular disease and strokes in the U. S. (See Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics-2007 Update) The statistics show that in 2004 (the latest year for which data are available), over 36% of deaths in the U.S. were due to cardiovascular disease.
What's more, there are plenty more cases of cardiac disease to come. This seems plain since, according to these latest data, two thirds of Americans are either overweight or obese; over half of American adults have untreated or inadequately treated hypertension, nearly a quarter of adults (and an alarmingly high rate of children and adolescents) have metabolic syndrome, nearly 10% have diabetes (most of whom have it due to being overweight), and 20% of adults still smoke. Most of these people can expect to have up to a decade or more of life taken from them, and to experience sickness and disability (not to mention the perfidies of the American health care system) during the last few of the years that remain.
If you are one of the Americans included in these statistics (statistics that project a continued explosion in cardiovascular disease), be sure you have decent life insurance, as your family may need it. If you are a cardiologist, go ahead and buy that Mercedes; the payments will be there.
But in the spirit of the season, let us remember the Ghost of Christmas Future, who, after revealing to Scrooge the tragic course his current behavior had laid out for him, said, " *."
*(The G of CF was mute, of course, and actually said nothing. However, his message, quite clearly, was that it's not yet too late to alter that tragic future. You know what to do.)
Sources:
1. American Heart Association. Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics-2007 Update. Dallas, TX: American Heart Association, 2006. Available at: http://www.americanheart.org/statistics. Last accessed December 29, 2006.
2. A long and oftentimes sad experience as a practitioner in the wonderful world of cardiology.
3. Dickens, C. A Christmas Carol. London, 1843.
