Potent Value of Prevention

Although the death toll has steadily declined over the past 30 years due to prevention and treatment measures, heart disease remains the leading cause of death in the United States, responsible and for 1 in every 4 deaths. Shivani A. Patel, from Emory University (Georgia, USA), and colleagues explored how many heart disease deaths may be due to preventable factors. The team analyzed data collected from over 500,000 men and women, ages 45 to 79 years, collected via the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System and the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Data analysis revealed that were it possible to completely eliminate every case of high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity and smoking in the US, 54% of heart disease deaths among men and almost 50% of heart disease deaths among women in 2010 could have been prevented.  Further, the investigators estimated that if all states could have brought the levels of those five risk factors down to the levels achieved by the five best-performing states in the US that would have prevented about 5% of heart disease deaths.  The study authors warn that: “Major modifiable cardiovascular risk factors collectively accounted for half of cardiovascular deaths in US adults aged 45 to 79 years in 2009 to 2010.”