Reality of the situation Essay Example

Reality of the situation Essay Example Reality of the situation Paper Reality of the situation Paper Presently, chronic diseases for example, heart diseases, diabetes and cancer are the major causes of disability and even deaths in America. These diseases are estimated to account for a bout 70% of total deaths, which translates to 1.7 million deaths every year. In addition, chronic diseases result in considerable limitations in every day living for nearly 25 million American, which are about 10 out of 100 people. Even though, these chronic diseases are amongst the most widespread and very costly health issues, these diseases are as well amongst the most preventable diseases. Taking up health behaviors for instance, eating healthy food, avoiding using tobacco and remaining physically active are measures which can easily prevent or manage the ravaging effects brought about by these chronic diseases. This paper is going to take a critical look on how to prevent heart disease and stroke which are first and third major causes of deaths in America today. The paper will examine the reality of the situation, highlight the costs of heart disease and stroke and outline preventives measures which need to be followed to arrest the situation. Reality of the situation Heart disease and stroke are main constituents of cardiovascular disease, which are among the leading causes of deaths in America estimated to account for about 40% of total deaths. About 930,000 Americans pass away due to cardiovascular diseases yearly, which translate to one person dying in every 34 seconds. Nearly 70 millions of Americans (about 20% of total population) suffer from some kind of cardiovascular disease, accounting for over 6 million people being hospitalized every year. A lot of expenses resulting from heart diseases and stroke may possibly be prevented through decreasing their main risk factors, which are: tobacco usage, poor nutrition, physical inactivity, high blood pressure, diabetes and high blood cholesterol. (American Heart Association, 2006) The costs of heart disease and stroke in terms of lives and money In 2005 it was estimated that heart disease and stroke costs were in excess of $394 billions. Out of this amount, $242 billion went to health care costs, while $152 billion are due to lost productivity resulting from disability and deaths caused by these diseases. In 2002, the expenses of hospitalization due to cardiovascular complications amongst Medicare beneficiaries reached $29 billion (American Heart Association, 2006) Over 870, 000 Americans die from hart diseases and stroke yearly, this translates about 2,400 dying each passing day (American Heart Association, 2006) In addition to this, heart disease and stroke are major causes of disability of the USA workforce resulting in about 1 million people being disabled due to stroke only. The chart below shows the costs resulting from heart disease and stroke. (Source: Chronic Disease Prevention: Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention; Addressing the Nations Leading Killers: www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/about.htm )