10 | HUNTSVILLE LIVING | FERUARY 2024
Cardiovascular Disease Is
Older Adults , Especially
10 | HUNTSVILLE LIVING | FERUARY 2024
BY JUDITH GRAHAM
Cardiovascular disease — the No . 1 cause of death among people 65 and older — is poised to become more prevalent in the years ahead , disproportionately affecting Black and Hispanic communities and exacting an enormous toll on the health and quality of life of older Americans .
The estimates are sobering : By 2060 , the prevalence of ischemic heart disease ( a condition caused by blocked arteries and also known as coronary artery disease ) is projected to rise 31 % compared with 2025 ; heart failure will increase 33 %; heart attacks will grow by 30 %; and strokes will increase by 34 %, according to a team of researchers from Harvard and other institutions . The greatest increase will come between 2025 and 2030 , they predicted . The dramatic expansion of the U . S . aging population ( cardiovascular disease is far more common in older adults than in younger people ) and rising numbers of people with conditions that put them at risk of heart disease and stroke — high blood pressure , diabetes , and obesity foremost among them — are expected to contribute to this alarming scenario . Because the risk factors are more common among Black and Hispanic populations , cardiovascular illness and death will become even more common for these groups , the researchers predicted . ( Hispanic people can be of any race or combination of races .)
“ Disparities in the burden of cardiovascular disease are only going to be exacerbated ” unless targeted efforts are made to strengthen health education , expand prevention , and improve access to effective therapies , wrote the authors of an accompanying editorial , from Stony Brook University in New York and Baylor University Medical Center in Texas .
“ Whatever focus we ’ ve had before on managing [ cardiovascular ] disease risk in Black and Hispanic Americans , we need to redouble our efforts ,” said Clyde Yancy , chief of cardiology and vice dean for diversity and inclusion at