Author(s)

David S. Schade, James Blankenship, Allen Adolphe, Robert Philip Eaton

Health Sciences Center, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA.

During the last two decades, mortality from cardiovascular disease temporarily declined but then rose again to epidemic proportions. The reasons for this progressive increase are multiple, but none are insurmountable. At the forefront of this challenge is the medical/industrial complex that requires billions of dollars per year to maintain the status quo. Next are treatment guidelines that focus on cardiovascular risk instead of disease eradication. Furthermore, poor lifestyle choices are prevalent in society, often encouraged by labor saving devices and avoidance of adequate exercise and stress reduction. Added to these difficulties is the inadequate training for cardiovascular disease prevention of medical providers by educational institutions. Much of this deficiency is the delayed dispersion of new medical knowledge to the educators and providers. Also challenging is the widespread availability of fast food promulgated by industries and resulting in diabetes and obesity. Finally, identification of subclinical cardiovascular disease in individuals who should be treated before a cardiovascular event occurs has only recently been proven possible with non-invasive calcium heart scanning. What is needed at this time is the determination by society to overcome these barriers to cardiovascular disease prevention and to reduce cardiovascular deaths to a minor disease status.

Medical/Industrial Complex, Cardiovascular Disease, Lifestyle, Heart Disease, Information Barrier

Schade, D. , Blankenship, J. , Adolphe, A. and Eaton, R. (2025) Why Cardiovascular Disease Is the Number One Killer in the United States. World Journal of Cardiovascular Diseases, 15, 411-418. doi: 10.4236/wjcd.2025.158035.