Researchers say heart disease will surge in next decade

A new study in The Journal of the American College of Cardiology predicts that millions more Americans will develop CVD over the next few decades.

Researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital estimated that from 2025 to 2060, cases of ischemic heart disease may increase from 21.9 million to 28.7 million, 9.7 million to 12.9 million for heart failure, 12.3 million to 16.0 million for myocardial infarction, and 10.8 million to 14.5 million for stroke.

They also forecast that by 2060, there would be 54.6 million Americans with diabetes, 162.5 million with hypertension, 125.7 million with dyslipidemia, and 125.7 million with obesity.

Differences between men and women are expected to stay fairly stable, but CVD will likely disproportionately affect Black and Hispanic people, the authors said.

The researchers wrote that “[e]mphasis on education regarding CV risk factors, improving access to quality health care, and facilitating lower cost access to effective therapies for treatment of CV risk factors may stem the rising tide of CV disease in at-risk individuals; such advances need to be applied in a more equitable way throughout the United States, however.”