By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    An Expert’s Guide To Building and Improving Endurance
    June 30, 2022
    medical assistants
    What Do Medical Assistants Do On a Day to Day Basis?
    April 5, 2022
    superfoods to help with prostate health
    10 Healthy Foods That Can Help Protect Your Prostate
    August 29, 2022
    Latest News
    Why Custom Telemedicine Apps Outperform Off‑the‑Shelf Solutions
    July 20, 2025
    How Probate Planning Shapes the Future of Your Estate and Family Care
    July 17, 2025
    Beyond Nutrition: Everyday Foods That Support Whole-Body Health
    June 15, 2025
    The Wide-Ranging Benefits of Magnesium Supplements
    June 11, 2025
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    How Powerful Patients Save the System Money
    November 11, 2015
    How Financial Barriers are Slowing Down Telehealth Adoption
    September 26, 2017
    No Resource Constraints in Dialysis: a Blessing and a Curse
    May 4, 2011
    Latest News
    How IT and Marketing Teams Can Collaborate to Protect Patient Trust
    July 17, 2025
    How Health Choices and Legal Actions Intersect After an Injury
    July 17, 2025
    How communities and healthcare providers can address slip and fall injuries with legal awareness
    July 17, 2025
    Let Your Lawyer Handle the Work Before You Pay Medical Costs
    July 6, 2025
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: Attacking Heart Disease in Inequality Land
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > Specialties > Cardiology > Attacking Heart Disease in Inequality Land
CardiologyGlobal Healthcare

Attacking Heart Disease in Inequality Land

gooznews
gooznews
Share
5 Min Read
SHARE

Here’s one cheer for the “Million Hearts” initiative launched yesterday by Thomas Frieden, head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Donald Berwick, chief of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. By establishing a goal of reducing heart attacks and strokes by 10 percent a year over the next five years, they’ve set a measurable objective that, if achieved, will save lives.

But will their program work? The program has two components: clinical prevention measures and public health measures.

Here’s one cheer for the “Million Hearts” initiative launched yesterday by Thomas Frieden, head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Donald Berwick, chief of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. By establishing a goal of reducing heart attacks and strokes by 10 percent a year over the next five years, they’ve set a measurable objective that, if achieved, will save lives.

But will their program work? The program has two components: clinical prevention measures and public health measures.

More Read

The Most Interesting Man Revolutionizing the Health World
Are We Ready to Set Priorities for an AIDS-Free Generation?
Robots Are Being Programmed To Perform Spine Surgeries
Where the US Lags Italy in Healthcare
Hurricanes, Zika, and Healthcare Collapse

The clinical measures include aggressive use of electronic medical records to find and treat people at high risk of heart disease. The interventions include a daily aspirin for people who already have heart disease (less than half of such people now take a daily aspirin, whose anti-platelet effects help prevent the clots that lead to hearts attacks and strokes); blood pressure control and cholesterol-lowering meds for more people at risk of heart disease because these biomarker levels are elevated (less than half and a third of people at high risk, respectively, have those biomarkers under control); and more aggressive and targeted anti-smoking campaigns for the 20 percent of adult Americans who still smoke.

On the public health side, the two officials said the government will beef up its anti-smoking campaign; promote policies like menu labeling in chain restaurants so people can reduce caloric intake and sodium consumption (salt raises blood pressure); and promote policies aimed at eliminating trans fats in food, which raises artery-clogging cholesterol. Frieden and Berwick also gave a shout-out to the First Lady’s “Let’s Move” campaign, and call for expansion of the Diabetes Prevention Program, an intensive lifestyle counseling program that is being promoted nationally by the YMCA.

There was a 50 percent reduction in U.S. mortality from heart attacks between 1980 and 2000. Still each year there are 2 million such events, and 800,000 people die from heart disease, their joint article in today’s New England Journal of Medicine said. The program is aimed at reducing that by 1 million attacks and strokes over the next five years.

Here’s what’s missing from the program: any discussion about the social determinants of heart disease. The major news story of the day (other than the endless political conflict in Washington over which budget to slash fastest so more people can lose jobs and benefits) is the rapid growth of poverty and and inequality in the U.S. over the last decade. Official and unofficial unemployment (at least 16%) has reduce the American population to income levels of 1997, and raised poverty levels to the highest they’ve been since 1993.

One of the root yet silent causes of heart disease is economic stress. Bad food is cheap food. Even the urge to smoke is stress-related for people who want to quit. The latest census numbers on poverty don’t address inequality, but scientists have known since a famous study among British civil servants that insecurity and lack of status piled on top of low incomes are a major cause of heart disease and premature mortality.

It’s not the role of public health agencies like CDC and CMS to end unemployment, poverty and inequality in America. But any public health campaign to reduce heart disease that is worth its salt should start with public recognition of its one of its primary economic causes, and call for a reduction in those risk factors. Unless we reduce the rising levels of economic stress in the U.S., and around the world, all health care system and public health program interventions against heart disease will be of no more consequence than sand castles against the waves.

TAGGED:heart diseasemillion hearts initiative
Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

holistic dental
Holistic Dentist Services Are Natural and Safe
Dental health Specialties
July 28, 2025
botox certification
Help Improve People’s Skin Health Via Botox Certification
Skin Specialties
July 22, 2025
Telemedicine Apps
Why Custom Telemedicine Apps Outperform Off‑the‑Shelf Solutions
Health
July 20, 2025
Grounded Healing: A Natural Ally for Sustainable Healthcare Systems
How IT and Marketing Teams Can Collaborate to Protect Patient Trust
Global Healthcare Policy & Law
July 17, 2025

You Might also Like

Interview with Lawrence Sherman on eCME and ePatients

April 7, 2013
CardiologySpecialties

Can the Growing Heart Disease Epidemic with Baby Boomers Be Curbed?

June 22, 2020

The Elusive Power of mHealth

October 4, 2011

Professions of Interest in the Medical Field

May 4, 2016
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?