Latest news with #NHLBI
Medscape
06-05-2025
- Health
- Medscape
Is Obesity Today's ‘Cancer'?
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) encompasses 21 institutes in acknowledgement of the seriousness of a host of conditions, including cancer, heart disease, infectious diseases, mental health disorders, diabetes, gastrointestinal diseases, kidney diseases, neurological diseases, and more. However, one disease is missing from the list, and it's the one that connects many of the others: obesity. everly Tchang, MD The first institute, the National Cancer Institute, was created in 1937 in recognition of the importance of fighting the second most common cause of mortality. The resulting decades of investment and research have resulted in a new understanding of the root causes of cancer, prevention and screening protocols, diagnostic tools and technologies, and advanced therapeutics that offer the best balance of benefits over risks. Together, these advancements have saved millions of lives. In just one example, overall breast cancer mortality has decreased by 58% from the 1970s to today. Similarly, the 1948 creation of the National Heart Institute, which grew into today's National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), facilitated astounding medical innovations, including angioplasty, bypass surgery, lipid-lowering medications, and anti-hypertensive medications. With measures directed at both optimizing prevention and treatment, the age-standardized death rate from cardiovascular disease, the nation's No. 1 killer, decreased by 67.5% between 1969 and 2013. So, is it time for a National Institute of Obesity? Historically, the impetus for establishing prior institutes was three-fold: the disease's prevalence, impact, and priority. The overall prevalence of obesity surpasses that of cancer and cardiovascular disease. In the United States, the lifetime risk of developing cancer is 38.9%, and the prevalence of cardiovascular disease is 9.9% in adults >20 years of age. The prevalence of obesity in adults is 40.3%. When expanded to include adults with overweight, the figure rises to a sobering 73.6%. This means almost 3 out of 4 adults — in your waiting room, shopping mall, park, voting district — potentially have metabolic disease. Obesity's impact can't be overstated. Medically, obesity has been identified as the root cause or contributor to over 20 diseases encompassing cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, respiratory, neurological, musculoskeletal, and infectious diseases. A recent study led by Johns Hopkins researchers found significant associations between obesity and 16 health conditions, with the risk of these conditions rising with the severity of obesity: hypertension, type 2 diabetes, hyperlipidemia/dyslipidemia, heart failure, atrial fibrillation, atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis, gout, metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease, biliary calculus, obstructive sleep apnea, asthma, gastroesophageal reflux disease, and osteoarthritis. On a population level, the estimated cost of obesity, including indirect consequences such as disability or reduced work productivity, exceeded $1.4 trillion from 2014 to 2018, according to a 2020 Milken report. Prioritizing a person's health is not an individual vs public issue, and in fact, the two are intertwined. With over 200 million people in the United States having overweight or obesity, we have the critical mass to demand real change from our public health system. We deserve better research, transparency, and communication about the impact of environmental factors, whether they be nutrition or work-related stress or endocrine-disrupting chemicals; the genetics or biology that drives our environmental responses; and the interplay between them. Currently, obesity is treated like a stepchild. It is housed under the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, which runs the NIH Obesity Research Task Force. Separately, some institutes focus on isolated aspects of obesity as it relates to their primary goal (eg, obesity's impact on cardiovascular health in the NHLBI).
Indian Express
06-05-2025
- Health
- Indian Express
World Asthma Day 2025: Date, origin, theme, significance — all you need to know
World Asthma Day 2025: Asthma is a chronic respiratory disease in which a person's airways become inflamed, narrow, swell, and produce excess mucus, making it difficult to breathe, as defined by the NHLBI, NIH. There are over 250 million individuals living with asthma worldwide, and in 2019, it was responsible for approximately 455,000 deaths, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). As a result, every year, the second Tuesday of May is celebrated as World Asthma Day to raise awareness about the condition and the danger it poses. This year, World Asthma Day will be observed on Tuesday, 6 May 2025, with the theme 'Make inhaled treatments accessible for all ', emphasising the importance of ensuring that people diagnosed with asthma have access to inhaled medications, which are necessary both for controlling the disease and treating attacks. Additionally, it also emphasises the significance of raising awareness, promoting early diagnosis, effective asthma management, and ensuring equitable access to treatment for all asthma-afflicted individuals. (Credit: KNOW | What are the common triggers of Asthma, and how to control them The first World Asthma Day, led by the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA), was observed in over 35 nations in 1998, coinciding with the first World Asthma Meeting in Barcelona, Spain. With each World Asthma Day since then, participation has grown, and the day has emerged as one of the world's most significant asthma awareness and education activities. Around the world, World Asthma Day is celebrated with a range of events, such as free screening clinics, advocacy campaigns, educational programs, school programs, sporting events, and more. These initiatives seek to decrease avoidable asthma-related deaths, improve asthma management, and empower patients.
Yahoo
10-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Doctor: Take care of your heart in February
PLATTSBURGH — Heart disease is the leading cause of death for men and women in the United States, and to raise awareness, the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute branded February as American Heart Month. 'Why is it important to talk about heart month? Heart disease is fairly common and most people do not even know they are at risk of heart disease,' Dr. Anthony Conti, founder of Lake Champlain Imaging, said. 'Heart disease is the leading cause of death in men and women. Every 33 seconds–someone dies of heart disease. One in five are under the age of 65-years-old. When we hear these stories about this, and we all experience it ourselves, a family member, a friend, a neighbor, we all say to ourselves, 'Wow, they seemed young, who could have known?' But that is a big misconception.' According to the NHLBI, most middle-aged and young adults have one or more risk factors for heart disease, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or being a smoker or overweight. Having multiple risk factors increases the risk of heart disease. These factors include age, family history and lifestyle factors such as high blood pressure, cholesterol, smoking, poor diet and physical inactivity. 'There are factors we cannot control, like age and family history,' Dr. Conti said. 'But there are lifestyle factors that increase risk, such as high blood pressure, cholesterol, smoking, diabetes, overweight, physical inactivity and unhealthy diets.' According to the NHLBI, cardiovascular disease is the term for all types of diseases that affect the heart or blood vessels which can cause heart attacks, stroke, heart failure and peripheral artery disease. 'Heart disease' is a catch-all phrase for a variety of conditions that affect the heart's structure and function, the most common is coronary heart disease. While all heart diseases are cardiovascular diseases, not all cardiovascular diseases are heart disease. Coronary heart disease, also known as coronary artery disease, is often referred to simply as 'heart disease,' although it's not the only type of heart disease. Coronary heart disease occurs when plaque, a combination of fat, cholesterol, calcium and other substances found in the blood, builds up in your arteries. The plaque reduces the amount of oxygen-rich blood getting to the heart, which can cause chest pain, also called angina. Plaque can also lead to blood clots, which block blood flow and are the most common cause of a heart attack. According to the NHLBI, about 366,000 Americans die from coronary heart disease each year. 'Unfortunately there is no build up of symptoms. The first major symptom is a heart attack,' Dr. Conti said. 'And one in five heart attacks are silent. The damage is done and they don't even know it. They feel a pain but pass it off. There are a lot of patients in their 50s and 60s with build up and don't even know it.' Some lifestyle tips from the NHLBI to improve heart health include: • Be more physically active. • Maintain a healthy weight. • Eat a nutritious diet. • Quit smoking. • Manage stress. • Get 7-9 hours of quality sleep. • Track your blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar numbers. 'Lifestyle factors are all difficult. If exercising and eating a super healthy diet was easy, we wouldn't be here. But it's no longer theoretical, it's no longer 'maybe I'll get lucky and it won't happen to me,' Conti said. Lake Champlain Imaging, on Route 3 in Plattsburgh, prides itself on a comprehensive array of radiologic imaging and cutting edge diagnostic testing by doctor recommendation to determine a patient's risk factors and how to best optimize the heart moving forward. 'The power of these tests is it removes the veil of mystery, the mystery of 'oh do I, does a loved one have heart disease,' Conti said. These tests include a Coronary Calcium Score, Coronary Calcium Score, Echocardiography, Vascular Ultrasound, Holter Monitor, Fractional Flow Reserve as well as a tool that utilizes AI to analyze plaque build up. 'I encourage people over 50-years-old to talk to their providers about their individual risks and if these tests may be right for them,' Conti said.
