CDC: 200,000 U.S. heart disease, stroke deaths could be prevented. CDC photo.
Published: Sept. 4, 2013 at 12:07 AM
ATLANTA, Sept. 4 (UPI) -- More than 200,000 preventable U.S. deaths from heart disease and stroke occurred in 2010, half in people age 65 and younger, federal health officials said.
Vital Signs, a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, also found the overall rate of preventable deaths from heart disease and stroke went down nearly 30 percent between 2001 and 2010.
However, while death rates in 2010 were highest among adults ages 65-74 years, preventable deaths declined faster in those ages 65-74 compared with those age 65 and younger.
Lack of access to preventive screenings and early treatment for high blood pressure and high cholesterol could explain the differences among age groups, the report said.
"Despite progress against heart disease and stroke, hundreds of thousands of Americans die each year from these preventable causes of death," Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the CDC, told reporters in a telephone news conference.
"Many of the heart attacks and strokes that will kill people in the coming year could be prevented by reducing blood pressure and cholesterol and stopping smoking."
The study also found:
-- Blacks were twice as likely, and Hispanics were slightly less likely, as whites to die from preventable heart disease and stroke.
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200,000 U.S. heart disease, stroke deaths can be prevented