CDC Report:  46% of the Adult Population have at least one of the 3 Most Serious Risk Factors for Cardiovascular Disease

The CDC is releasing data from its ongoing “National Health & Nutrition Examination Survey,” and gave a very surprising and hopefully sobering assessment that nearly half of all adult Americans have either hypertension, high cholesterol, or diabetes.   All 3 of these conditions greatly increase the risk for fatal cardiovascular disease.

This number even surprised the head of the American Heart Association, Dr. Clyde Yancy, who stated “When that number is nearly 50%, that’s a huge wake-up call.  It means there are a large number of people who think they are healthy…but are working under a terrible misconception.”

Regular physicals and frank conversations with your primary care physician about these 3 conditions are essential.    Equally important, and one of our commitments in eye care, is letting patients know that all 3 of these conditions can also have serious and sometimes blinding effects on your eyes as well.   Annual eye exams serve a great purpose in allowing your optometrist to monitor for any adverse effects of these 3 serious conditions.   Early detection of ocular complications is key in preventing permanent vision loss and it also can be an alert that more aggressive control of the underlying conditions may be needed.

If it’s been more than a year since you’ve seen your primary care physician and your optometrist, please take the time to schedule appointments with both today.