The three conditions which comprise higher cardiac risks are high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol levels or diabetes.

This report says 45% of adults had one of these risks.

Thirteen percent has two.

Three percent had all three of the above conditions.

This report was examining health disparities but the news is important for everyone.

It is worrisome when the report says 15% of those who have one or more of these problems is undiagnosed.

Non-Hispanic blacks were more likely than non-Hispanic whites or Mexican Americans to have one of the three conditions, whether they knew it or not. (Diagnosis)

What Can You Do?

1. Do you know your numbers? What’s your blood pressure on average? The high? The low? The daily average? When was the last time you had your cholesterol checked? What is your range? Does it need to come down? If you have any history of diabetes, or either of the other two risk factors are present, ask your doctor about a diabetes test.

2. Once you know your numbers, is there a problem? What can you do to bring your risks down? You need to understand what they should be. Your doctor can tell you. First, you want a plan you can follow personally to see if you can bring your numbers in line to normal or near-normal. Second, you need to educate yourself about these risks.Yes, that sounds boring or too hard but if you can cut your risk of having any one–never mind all three–it is anything but boring to prevent them.

3. If you have a problem, enlist the help of family and friends to help you meet your goals. They don’t want to lose you. You don’t want to lose your ability to live your life well as long as you can. Get information from reliable sources, such as the disease groups which sponsor research and public education. American Heart Association and the American Diabetes Association are excellent resources. So is Medline Plus, the consumer site sponsored by the National Library of Medicine.

4. Success stories are all around you. Ask people you know who have any of these conditions how they succeeded. You will find that those who have faced this tend to be happy to share what they have learned.

CDC

Key findings

• Forty-five percent of adults had at least one of three diagnosed or undiagnosed chronic conditions—hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, or diabetes; one in eight adults (13%) had two of these conditions; and 3% of adults had all three chronic conditions.
• Nearly one in seven U.S. adults (15%) had one or more of these conditions undiagnosed.
• Non-Hispanic black persons were more likely than non-Hispanic white and Mexican-American persons to have at least one of the three conditions (diagnosed or undiagnosed).
• Non-Hispanic black and non-Hispanic white persons were more likely than Mexican-American persons to have both diagnosed or undiagnosed hypertension and hyper-cholesterolemia. Non-Hispanic black and Mexican-American persons were more likely than non-Hispanic white persons to have both diagnosed or undiagnosed hypertension and diabetes.

Citation: National Center for Health Statistics Data Brief, Number 36, April 2010. “Hypertension, High Serum Total Cholesterol, and Diabetes: Racial and Ethnic Prevalence Differences in U.S. Adults, 1999-2006″