Why is heart disease the leading cause of U.S. deaths? Episode 19 of That's Public Health
Why is heart disease the leading cause of U.S. deaths? Episode 19 of That's Public Health
Heart disease is the nation’s leading cause of death, ending more than 659,000 U.S. lives annually. With all we know about preventing it, why does heart disease continue to take such a heavy toll, and what can public health do about it? Find out in this episode of “That’s Public Health” from APHA and Complexly.
Content
0.24 -> hi i'm daboki chuckervardi i'm a science
2.72 -> educator and today we're going to talk
4.88 -> about heart disease and what public
6.64 -> health does about it we tend to
8.48 -> associate heart disease with aging men
10.96 -> but it can affect anyone the centers for
13.44 -> disease control and prevention says that
15.36 -> heart disease accounts for one in four
17.52 -> of all deaths in the u.s and while some
20.24 -> studies have shown a decline in these
21.68 -> rates since the 1960s it's still the
24.56 -> single leading cause of death in the
26.16 -> world today for adults of all races and
29.199 -> genders now heart disease isn't actually
31.679 -> a single disease but a group of them and
34.48 -> all of those diseases fall under the
36.32 -> broader category of cardiovascular
38.48 -> disease which is itself an umbrella term
41.28 -> for all the health conditions affecting
43.36 -> the heart and blood vessels in 2016
47.039 -> nearly half of us adults were living
49.84 -> with some form of cardiovascular disease
52.48 -> part of what makes heart diseases so
54.48 -> deadly is that they often don't show
56.719 -> many obvious signs until they're already
59.039 -> late stage take coronary artery disease
62.079 -> or cad which happens when the arteries
64.799 -> supplying oxygen-rich blood to the heart
66.88 -> muscle narrow or harden
69.2 -> and when the heart muscle doesn't get
70.799 -> enough oxygen it can start to die that's
73.76 -> what we call a heart attack
75.28 -> unfortunately most people don't know
77.439 -> they have coronary artery disease until
80 -> they experience a heart attack it's no
82.4 -> wonder that cad killed over 300 000
85.119 -> people in 2019
87.28 -> and that's just in the us what's more
90.24 -> heart attacks themselves don't always
92.159 -> look like we'd expect
93.92 -> one in five of them are silent meaning
96.4 -> they're so mild or brief that people
98.72 -> ignore them or confuse them with
100.479 -> exhaustion or heartburn it also doesn't
102.88 -> help that the most well-known symptoms
104.64 -> of heart attacks like sudden chest pain
107.04 -> were based on medical studies done on
109.04 -> men women on the other hand are more
111.6 -> likely to experience subtler symptoms
113.52 -> during a heart attack like nausea and
115.68 -> vomiting lightheadedness or pain in the
118.32 -> back stomach or jaw heart attacks are
120.799 -> actually increasing among young women
123.119 -> but because research and prevention of
125.2 -> heart disease has been focused on older
127.2 -> men for so long women who present
129.44 -> different symptoms tend to be overlooked
132.16 -> which can lead to worse health outcomes
134.4 -> one study which looked at data between
136.48 -> 1995 to 2014 from various parts of the
140.319 -> us
141.28 -> found that hospitalizations for heart
143.12 -> attacks increased 10 percent for women
145.68 -> between the ages of 35 and 54 and only 3
149.52 -> percent for men in the same age group
151.76 -> these women were more likely to have
153.519 -> high blood pressure or diabetes which
155.68 -> are conditions that can damage blood
157.28 -> vessels and make circulation more
159.2 -> difficult often leading to heart disease
161.84 -> but doctors were less likely to screen
164 -> or treat women for heart disease even if
166 -> they showed these risk factors one piece
168.319 -> of good news here is that many of the
170 -> risk factors for heart disease are
171.92 -> modifiable which means we can make
174.16 -> lifestyle changes to address them we can
176.239 -> avoid smoking to prevent the hardening
178.239 -> of blood vessels and eat nutritious
180.4 -> foods like vegetables and whole grains
182.239 -> to ensure heart health but similar to
184.4 -> how gaps in heart disease research can
186.4 -> affect individual health outcomes public
189.04 -> health recognizes that there are factors
191.04 -> outside of us that can impact how easy
193.44 -> it is to make heart-healthy choices for
196 -> instance the american heart association
198.56 -> found that people were more likely to
200.319 -> experience cardiovascular disease if
202.56 -> they lived in neighborhoods with limited
204.56 -> access to healthy food spaces to be
206.799 -> physically active or healthcare
208.64 -> facilities that means it's sometimes the
210.799 -> best medicine for heart disease isn't a
212.799 -> pill it's a public health program like
215.36 -> the program that the american heart
216.879 -> association sponsored in 2018 the aha
220.4 -> brought a team of healthcare
221.44 -> professionals and educators to
223.12 -> under-resourced neighborhoods in
224.48 -> philadelphia to help raise awareness of
226.64 -> heart disease risks and prevention the
228.879 -> team also offered blood pressure checks
230.959 -> nutrition counseling and an on-site
233.2 -> farmer's market at first the project
235.68 -> only reached around 30 people at each
237.599 -> site but after connecting with a local
240.08 -> church and building trust in their
241.76 -> community the team was able to connect
244.239 -> with almost 300 people which is a great
247.68 -> example of how a tight-knit community
250.08 -> can improve public health so heart
252.319 -> disease may be the leading cause of
254.08 -> death in the u.s but because there are
256.72 -> so many factors contributing to its
258.479 -> prevalence public health professionals
260.639 -> aren't locked into any one solution
262.88 -> everything from improving education to
264.96 -> bringing in healthy food options can
266.96 -> make a meaningful impact and help people
269.44 -> live healthier lives
271.36 -> thanks for watching this video is part
273.44 -> of a series created by complexly and the
275.919 -> american public health association to
278.08 -> shed a little light on the important
279.919 -> work that public health does to learn
282.32 -> more visit apha.org
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g131j2lb3xw