Forty-eight percent of American adults have some form of cardiovascular disease, reported the American Heart Association (AHA) in its annual update. The increase is partly due to 2017 updated guidelines redefining high blood pressure as greater than 130/80 millimeters of mercury rather than 140/90, which raised the number of Americans with diagnosed hypertension from 32 percent to 46 percent. American heart disease deaths rose from 836,546 in 2015 to 840,678 in 2016. Studies show that about 80 percent of all cardiovascular disease can be prevented by controlling high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol, along with healthy practices like not smoking, says the AHA.

This article appears in the May 2019 issue of Natural Awakenings.