Improvements in the nation’s health care system – particularly changes that address inequities in care and the impact of social determinants of health – are necessary to achieve the goal to equitably increase healthy life expectancy in this country, according to a new advisory published by the American Heart Association, the nation’s oldest and largest voluntary organization dedicated to fighting heart disease and stroke.

Heart disease and stroke deaths have declined, according to data reported in the just published American Heart Association’s (AHA) Heart & Stroke Statistics - 2020 Update, but that decrease has slowed significantly in recent years. Further discouraging is that more people are living in poor health, beginning at a younger age, as a direct result of risk factors that contribute to these leading causes of death worldwide.

More than 84 million Americans – or, one in three adults – have prediabetes, and 90% of them don’t know they have it, according to the CDC. Don’t let the “pre” fool you - prediabetes is a serious condition that can lead to type 2 diabetes and raise your risk for heart disease and stroke. The good news is that prediabetes can be reversed – but only if you get a diagnosis and make lifestyle changes, like losing weight, eating healthier, and being more active.

Life expectancy in the U.S. has declined over the past few years, largely due to drug overdose deaths and suicides, according to a troubling new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Drug overdose deaths set a new record in 2017 by jumping 9.6 percent, to more than 70,000 fatalities. Suicide rates rose by 3.7 percent, continuing a trend that has seen suicides increase from 10.4 suicides per 100,000 in 1999 to 14 (per 100,000) in 2017.

A measure gaining traction in New York City would require restaurants to serve healthy beverages rather than sugary drinks in kids’ meal combos. The Healthy Kids Meals Bill announced this week by NYC Speaker Corey Johnson would make water, milk and 100% fruit juice the standard beverages in restaurant offerings aimed at children.

Air pollution is a big killer. Researchers estimate that smog—particularly the tiniest particles in the mix—contributes to the early deaths of up to seven million people worldwide each year. Harm to fog-filled lungs is an obvious concern, yet air pollution is notably linked to cardiovascular events, including heart attacks and stroke.

Even as a young adult, being overweight may cause higher blood pressure and thicken heart muscle, setting the stage for heart disease later in life, according to new research in the American Heart Association’s (AHA) journal Circulation.

The American Heart Association (AHA) is sharply critical of a bill passed last week in California that prevents local communities in the state from adopting any new local sugary drink taxes for the next 12 years. The AHA calls Assembly Bill 1838 “a last-minute, backroom deal negotiated and written in secret by beverage industry lobbyists and their allies” and warns that it is a significant step backwards in the ongoing effort to reduce overconsumption of sugary drinks.

In women with heart disease, constriction of peripheral vessels during mental stress affects the heart circulation more than men’s, potentially raising women’s risk of heart-related events and death, according to new research in Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology, an American Heart Association (AHA) journal. In most people, mental stress causes peripheral vessels to constrict. In people with heart disease, this effect can cause a reduction in blood supply to the heart muscle called “ischemia.”

Infant deaths from critical congenital heart disease (CCHD) decreased more than 33 percent in eight states that mandated screening for CCHD using a test called pulse oximetry, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). In addition, deaths from other or unspecified cardiac causes decreased by 21 percent. Pulse oximetry is a simple bedside test to determine the amount of oxygen in a baby’s blood and the baby’s pulse rate. Low levels of oxygen in the blood can be a sign of a CCHD.