Chronic Diseases Are The Leading Cause Of Disease

Chronic and acute illness are extremely serious issues in the United States today. Although the two can go hand-and-hand, there are distinct differences between them. Chronic diseases is a leading causes of death and disability in the United States today. Conditions such as heart disease, stroke, cancer, type 2 diabetes, obesity, and arthritis are known to be among the most common, costly, and preventable of all chronic health problems. Two of the chronic diseases, heart disease and cancer, together accounted for nearly 48% of all deaths (CDC, 2016).

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a major cause of death and disability in the United States among adults. More than one-half of all deaths were caused by heart disease, cancer or

Many people throughout the United States (US) have some form of chronic disease. Chronic diseases are conditions that are not passed from person to person (noncommunicable), have a long duration, are commonly slow in progression, and generally have no cure (World Health Organization (WHO), n.d.b). Currently, chronic diseases are the leading cause of disability and death in the US and about half of all adults have at least one chronic illness (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2016b). This means that nearly every person in the US will be affected by chronic conditions whether it be personally or through loved ones having these diseases. The most prevalent types of chronic

In united states, 45% of all citizens have at least one chronic disease (4) and there is growing evidence that as a person age, he is more prone to develop other chronic condition if he is suffering from one (5). According to cdc, Heart diseases, diabetes, stroke, obesity, cancer and arthritis are the most prevalent yet preventable chronic conditions leading to hospitalizations, disabilities and decreased quality of life (6).

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that more than 600,000 Americans die from heart disease every year, which is approximately one in every four deaths. The fact that the numbers increased in the last decade is alarming (Figure 1). Coronary heart disease is the most common type of heart disease, which killed more that 300,000 people in 2014. However the future predictions are even scarier. Experts estimate that more than 40% of adults in America will suffer one or more forms of cardiovascular disease by 2030 (Heidenreich et al.,

According to Mason et al., chronic conditions are the number one cause of death in the United States (Mason et al., 2016 p. 275). These chronic illnesses include pulmonary disease, arthritis, kidney disease, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, neurological disease, alcoholism, mental health disorders, gastroenterology conditions, lupus, liver disease, cancers, and many more. While some conditions have uncontrollable risk factors such as age, genetics, gender, and race, society has a large contribution to these poor health conditions as well. Tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drug use, physical and emotional stress, lack of exercise, sleep deprivation, and poor dietary choices all increase the chance of developing a chronic illness.

In the US, there are tremendous disparities in health outcomes across different racial and ethnic groups. Non-Hispanic, African American adults, in particular, are known to “bear a disproportionate burden of disease, injury, death, and disability” when compared to the rest of the population. Many factors contribute to these disparities. According to the CDC, among the contributors are “socioeconomic factors (e.g., education, employment, and income), lifestyle behaviors (e.g., physical activity and alcohol intake), social environment (e.g., educational and economic opportunities, racial/ethnic discrimination, and neighborhood and work conditions), and access to preventive health-care services (e.g., cancer screening and vaccination).”

In 2012, about 56 million people died worldwide (“The Top 10 Causes of Death”). Killing more than 1.7 million Americans every year, seven out of every ten deaths in the United States are caused by chronic disease (The Growing Crisis of Chronic Disease in the United States). This results in an economic impact of 75% of health care costs (About Chronic Diseases). According to the National Health Council, “Four of the five most expensive health conditions (based on total health care spending in a given year in the United States) are chronic conditions- heart disease, cancer, mental disorders, and pulmonary conditions.” At the rate that the American population is going, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, by 2020, about

According to Heart.org, Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death and accounts for more than 17.3 million deaths per year and is expected to grow to over 23.6 million by the year 2030 (Heart Disease, Stroke and Research At-a-Glance, 2016). Heart disease and stroke is a major concern both locally and nationwide, Healthy People 2020 stated, “heart disease is the leading cause of death, and that stroke is the fifth leading cause of death in the U.S., together they are the most widespread and costly facing the nation today” (Healthypeople.gov).

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports, the cause of death to be roughly 720,000 citizens in the United States die from cardiovascular disease each year (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2014.) Deaths’ relating to cardiovascular disease have slightly dropped annually since the 1980’s. Coronary artery disease is the most prevalent type of cardiovascular disease in the U.S. and it kills around 400,000 Americans annually (Murphy, Xu, Kochanek, 2013.) Statistics like these are astounding and suggest the seriousness of this epidemic we are dealing with. Determinants of one’s health are vast but vary based on each individual.

Heart disease is of great concern and is one of the killer diseases in America today. Tentatively, one million people, both men and women die every day from cardiovascular disease, one death is recorded in every thirty three seconds. (Herat 2013). The number of deaths recorded from myocardial infarction and Congestive Heart Failure is more than that recorded from cancer and Aids joined together. Research suggests that cardiac diseases will be the number killer disease nationwide by the year 2020. (Heart 2013).

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the main reason for death in the United States (US) and spots a

The leading number one killer of the United States population is coronary heart disease. Coronary heart disease happens when not enough blood flow reaches the heart, which possibly will cause a heart attack. The main people who are at risk from this disease are the smokers, people who are diabetic, have high blood pressure, high cholesterol and genetic risk factors. The chances of getting heart disease also increase the older one gets.

There are many people in the United States that suffer health problems that range from serious illnesses like various types of cancers and diseases, to not-so-serious illnesses like the common cold. I believe that the most primary health problem in the United States is heart disease, and I believe this for many reasons.

Chronic diseases represented seven of the top 10 reasons of dying in the United States in 2010. Diseases of the heart, malignant neoplasms (cancers), continual lower respiratory disease, cerebrovascular diseases, diabetes mellitus, Alzheimer’s disease,