News Articles

As the executive director of Million Hearts®, I am privileged to see how critical and creative strategies, including team-based care for improved blood pressure control, are encouraging Americans and their health care professionals to focus attention and energy on achieving the goal of preventing 1 million heart attacks and strokes by 2017.

America’s Health Rankings® state statistics and healthcare metrics identified key areas where there is room for collective health improvement.

America’s Health Rankings® state statistics and healthcare metrics identified key areas where there is room for collective health improvement.

Did you know you are more likely to survive a plane crash than sudden cardiac arrest? According to the National Transportation Safety Board, you have a 95 percent chance of survival. Cardiac arrest? On average, 8 percent. A national rate that has not moved significantly in more than 30 years despite technological, medical and citizen training improvements.

There’s no better time than the New Year to reflect on past milestones and set goals for the year ahead. The most recent America’s Health Rankings® statistics identified key areas where there is room for collective health improvement, particularly within preventable chronic disease metrics, and we can't wait to get started.

It’s finally here: The official launch day of United Health Foundation’s 2012 America’s Health Rankings®. We at United Health Foundation look forward to this day all year long because it gives us such a valuable opportunity to start a national dialogue about the health of our communities, states and country as a whole.

According to the latest research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 25 million adults have been told by a doctor that they have adult diabetes. What’s even more concerning is how this number is poised to skyrocket. Another CDC study predicts that, based on our current trajectory, the number of Americans with adult diabetes will grow to one in three adults by 2050.

October 21-27 is Respiratory Care Week, and, in the spirit of lung health awareness, I’d like to focus on a health problem plaguing this country for far too long: smoking.

Cardiovascular disease is our nation’s leading cause of death, claiming more lives than the next three leading causes of death combined. It’s also our nation’s most prevalent illness, affecting about one of every three (33%) adults. And if current trends persist, prevalence will surpass 40% by 2030.