Public health in Tennessee

Public Health in Tennessee

In the category of "least surprising fact" of 2010, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) released the annual statistics on mortality and morbidity rates in the U.S. As it has been for the better part of two decades, coronary heart disease is the nation's number one deleterious and fatal disease accounting for "616,067 deaths" (CDC. Fast Stats. Number of Deaths for Leading Cause of Death. December 31, 2009). Further "an estimated 785,000 Americans had a new coronary attack, and about 470,000 will have a recurrent attack. About every 25 seconds, an American will have a coronary event, and about one every minute will die from one" (CDC. February is American Heart Month. 2009). Mirroring the U.S. As a whole, the great state of Tennessee has identical mortality statistics; with coronary heart disease leading the list at "14,636 deaths, or more than one out of four deaths" (Tennessee Department of Health. Cardiovascular Disease. August 2010). The scourge of heart disease has its roots in multiple conditions which "increase the risk of death and disability including: high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, tobacco use, secondhand smoke, and obesity" (CDC. February is American Heart Month. 2009). The last entry, obesity is of particular concern to the "Volunteer State" as it is "linked to a number of chronic diseases, including coronary heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and some cancers" (CDC. Tennessee. July 21, 2009). Tackling obesity in Tennessee is considered a sure fire way to achieve a decline in the number of coronary heart disease deaths.

An analysis of CDC and Tennessee Department of Health statistics reveals that: heart disease, cancer, and stroke rank in order as the top causes of death. For the U.S. heart disease claims 616,067, cancer 562,875 and stoke 135,952 (CDC. Fact Sheet. Number of Deaths for Leading Cause of Death. December 31, 2009). For Tennessee the data indicate heart disease 14,636, cancer 13, 161, and stroke 3,450 (CDC. Tennessee Fact Sheet. November 9, 2010), yet it is heart disease which strikes the Tennessee population most egregiously. Coronary heart disease is caused by "the narrowing of the coronary arteries due to fatty build- ups of plaque" (American Heart Association. January 17, 2011) invariably leading to chest pain or heart attack (American Heart Association. January 17, 2011). Aside from the harsh statistical realities of deaths and disabilities caused by heart disease mentioned previously; the financial cost of coronary heart disease in "prevention and treatment is higher than for cancer or any other diagnostic group, an estimated $286 billion in 2007, according to the annual update from the American Heart Association" (ArticlesBase. December 24, 2010). Tennessee had "total charges associated with diseases of the heart rise to over three billion in 2006" (Tennessee Department of Health. Cardiovascular Disease. August 2010).