Heart disease has been the world’s No. 1 killer for over a century, and experts predict that it will become even more prevalent in the coming decades.
A report this month from the American Heart Association (AHA) predicts that at least six in 10 U.S. adults could experience cardiovascular disease within the next 30 years.
The rate of hypertension (high blood pressure) — which is one of the key risk factors for heart disease — is expected to increase from 51.2% in 2020 to 61.0% in 2050.
Diabetes, another major risk factor, is also expected to rise (16.3% to 26.8%), along with obesity (43.1% to 60.6%), according to the study, which was published in the AHA journal Circulation.
As a result, total cardiovascular disease is predicted to rise from 11.3% to 15.0% between 2020 and 2050.
“The landscape of cardiovascular disease in the U.S. is seeing the arrival of a near-perfect storm,” Dr. Dhruv S. Kazi, vice chair of the advisory writing group and a Boston cardiologist, said in a press release.
“The last decade has seen a surge of cardiovascular risk factors, such as uncontrolled high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity, each of which raises the risks of developing heart disease and stroke.”
Lead study author Karen E. Joynt Maddox, MD, associate professor at Washington University School of Medicine, said the magnitude of the increase was surprising.
“As a country, through lots of hard work from clinicians, patients and organizations like the American Heart Association, we have reduced mortality from heart disease by more than 50% in recent years, but we haven’t made the same strides in preventing disease,” Maddox told Fox News Digital. “We have neglected prevention, chronic disease management and public health.”
