State of the Heart (and Brain) in 2025

https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.125.073826?utm_campaign=morning_rounds&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_FUgukJCJosv4sJCs0bCYivchKaojOuqFQNGruYMr7qEzMbhnEYYXib-WAwr3-7vs6guypuvaUhpbDagOolJOuDjkLLA&_hsmi=344205424&utm_content=344205424&utm_source=hs_email Heart disease is still the biggest killer In 2022, about 40% of deaths in the U.S. were caused by cardiovascular heart disease, including heart disease and stroke, which kill more people in the U.S. than the next two biggest killers — all forms of cancer and accidental deaths — combined. That’s according to an annual update from the American Heart Association on heart disease and stroke statistics, published today in Circulation. Cardiovascular disease is “common, catastrophic, and costly,” an accompanying editorial notes. Despite its dominance, the overall number of deaths is leveling out after the pandemic shot numbers upwards. Yet contributing risk factors like high blood pressure and obesity continue to rise. Here are some more interesting findings: The percentage of high schoolers who are physically active for over an hour every day decreased from almost 29% to just under 24% between 2011 to 2021. Nearly 47% of all Americans have high blood pressure. In 2022, the prevalence was worst in Mississippi at about 40% and best in Colorado, at just under 25%. The rate of gestational diabetes in the U.S. increased 38% from 2016 to 2021, to 8.3% of pregnancies. https://www.ahajournals.org/journal/circ?utm_campaign=morning_rounds&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--ygkV5trH0Cbfrt3-hi7r76or309VrIG3Tz_Gv-6ikM6wPFA-WJnn6Hr7QxevLFYb-3PrlCRzNG_vq_xoESrWwJl6yNg&_hsmi=344205424&utm_content=344205424&utm_source=hs_email