As living unhealthily became more and more prevalent within the United States, it goes without saying that heart disease is currently America's leader in terms of taking lives. The fault is not only on these individuals who allow themselves to fall into bad health, but the US government. The United states has created an environment in which companies that distribute inexpensive foods high in fats and sodium in mass quantities prosper exponentially. Currently, over 2 million US citizens have heart attacks annually and 800,000 of which are lethal. Although staggering, the sheer number is not the significant part about this statistic... it is that the majority of heart sicknesses are preventable by simply avoiding cigarettes, eating healthily, and exercising on a regular basis.
What can be done about this crisis? For one, companies choosing to sell unhealthy foods could be taxed and the proceeds of which would of course go to heart attack preventative research. However, the government of the US has chosen a different route; setting up a program to increase awareness of how to help and prevent heart disease. The article supports this by stating: "The program will focus on helping Americans make healthy choices, such as preventing tobacco use and lowering consumption of salt and trans fats, and increasing use of treatments like aspirin and blood pressure and cholesterol-lowering medications." Companies such as Walgreens have taken advantage of this and are currently offering free blood pressure testing in hopes of creating a healthy and caring image for themselves. Medications such as aspirin are affective blood-thinners, meaning that individuals suffering from heart disease would be at a lower risk of blood clot. It is therefore my prediction that there will be a rise in aspirin demand as well as similar blood thinners in the war against heart disease. Overall, given the increase in government spending and citizen awareness, risk for heart disease is expected to decrease in the near future and save the lives of thousands.
Feel free to comment on this post if inspired...
Stephen Kessler
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