Myocardial infarction, strokes, heart failure and other largely preventable conditions caused 2.2 million hospitalizations in 2016, resulting in $32.7 billion in costs, and 415,000 deaths occurred, according to a recent Vital Signs report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The report looks at national and state-level burden of cardiovascular disease events "most likely to be prevented by reducing sodium consumption, increasing physical activity, and improving 'ABCS:' aspirin when appropriate, blood pressure control, cholesterol management and smoking cessation."

Hospitalization and death rates were highest among men and non-Hispanic blacks and increased with age. The researchers predict that without preventive interventions, "approximately 16.3 million events and $173.7 billion in hospitalization costs could occur during 2017-2021."

Notably, the goal of preventing one million cardiovascular events by 2022 can be achieved with a 6 percent reduction in every state.

A second Vital Signs report of the prevalence of key cardiovascular disease risk factors found:

• 9 million adults are not taking aspirin as recommended
• 40 million adults have uncontrolled hypertension
• 39 million adults are not managing their cardiovascular disease risk through recommended statin use
• 54 million adults are smokers and could benefit from cessation interventions
• 71 million adults are not physically active

Click here to read the full story from October's Cardiology.

Clinical Topics: Cardiovascular Care Team, Diabetes and Cardiometabolic Disease, Dyslipidemia, Heart Failure and Cardiomyopathies, Prevention, Lipid Metabolism, Nonstatins, Novel Agents, Statins, Acute Heart Failure, Exercise, Hypertension

Keywords: ACC Publications, Cardiology Interventions, Health Policy, Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors, Blood Pressure, Aspirin, Prevalence, Smoking Cessation, Risk Factors, Goals, Hypertension, Myocardial Infarction, Stroke, Cholesterol, Heart Failure, Hospitalization, Exercise, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S., Sodium

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