LETTER: Research needed to stop cardiovascular disease
Cardiovascular disease is a daily burden for its victims. It’s also the most costly and pervasive disease in America. New projections from the American Heart Association show that by 2035, nearly half of the U.S. population will suffer from CVD, with costs exceeding $1 trillion. In fact, expenses associated with CVD are expected to surpass medical cost estimates for other chronic diseases, including diabetes and Alzheimer’s, over the next two decades.
These latest projections update ones made by the association in 2011 that estimated 100 million Americans would suffer from CVD by 2030. Disturbingly, that prediction came true in 2015.
Unless deliberate and focused action is taken now to combat this growing burden, the very disease that probably killed your great-grandparents will remain on the fast track to kill your great-grandchildren, too. Research funded by the National Institutes of Health remains our country’s best hope for discovering ways to prevent, treat and ultimately cure CVD – the No. 1 and most costly killer of Americans.
Congress: Help wipe out the burden of CVD for every generation by supporting NIH-funded research. Together, we can make heart disease and stroke just a memory.
Board member, South-Central NJ American Heart Association and American Stroke Association