Vital Signs: Prevalence, Treatment, and Control of Hypertension—United States, 1999-2002 and 2005-2008

Vital Signs: Prevalence, Treatment, and Control of Hypertension—United States, 1999-2002 and 2005-2008

Por: THE CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION (CDC). JAMA. 2011;305(15):1531-1534.

Hypertension, a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease, affects approximately one in three adults in the United States. Every year, hypertension contributes to one out of every seven deaths in the United States and to nearly half of all cardiovascular disease—related deaths, including stroke.1 If all hypertensive patients were treated sufficiently to reach the goal specified in current clinical guidelines, 46,000 deaths might be averted each year.2 In addition to the cost in lives lost, hypertension is costly to the health-care system. The American Heart Association recently estimated that direct and indirect costs of hypertension are more than $93.5 billion per year, and that cardiovascular disease and stroke account for 17% of the total health expenditures in the United States annually.