In a recent study from the American Heart Association, researchers estimated that around 51% of Americans had hypertension in 2020. With regard to the future, it is projected that by 2050, the number will likely increase to 61%; this number includes a disproportionate effect on communities of color, including the Black and Hispanic communities.
In 2023, the Predicting Risk of cardiovascular disease EVENTs (PREVENT) equation was created. This tool takes an individual’s medical history and information such as their ZIP code, to examine the social factors that may affect risk of heart disease. The results from the equation can assist providers in selecting what treatment method to employ (i.e., drugs for diabetes, drugs for hypertension, stains for cholesterol, etc.). PREVENT was developed to help restrain heart disease rates from increasing, by taking account of social risk factors to not solely rely on utilizing ethnicity or race to depict an individual’s life situation. In a paper from JAMA, calculations were done to see how utilizing PREVENT may affect care for Americans living with heart disease. The calculations showed that 14.3 million less people met the cutoff for statins to treat high cholesterol, and 2.62 million fewer for anti-hypertensive medicines. Additionally, the study shared that approximately half of all American adults would be placed at lower risk of some types of heart disease. Read the full article