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Double-jeopardy: multiple medical conditions investigated

by Sean Ruck, Contributing Editor | September 16, 2014
Stroke
The U.S. is often looked at by outsiders as a country of excess. Unfortunately, that perception seems to hold true when it comes to chronic medical conditions.

One in four Americans have multiple medical conditions, and for seniors the number moves up to two out of three. Yet health care has been slow to develop a holistic approach to address the problem.

A recently released article developed by the American College of Cardiology, the American Heart Association and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services took a look at the situation in order to help guide cardiologists treating patients with cardiovascular disease who are also suffering from other chronic health issues.

By reviewing Medicare claims from 2012, they were able to identify how common it was for cardiovascular patients to also have other conditions such as diabetes, arthritis or mental health disorders, for example.

Among the Medicare claims, 8,678,060 patients suffered from ischemic heart disease; 4,366,489 experienced heart failure; 2,556,839 experienced atrial fibrillation; and 1,145,719 had a stroke.

Hypertension and high cholesterol showed up in many of those cases, but diabetes and arthritis was also prevalent, with an average of more than 40 percent of the cardiovascular patients presenting with each of those diseases respectively. More than a quarter of heart failure patients also had Alzheimer's disease or dementia and nearly 30 percent of stroke patients suffered from depression.

"In older Medicare beneficiaries the prevalence is even higher, with more than two thirds, or 68 percent, having more than two chronic conditions, and 14 percent with six or more," wrote Dr. William A. Zoghbi, director of Cardiovascular Imaging at the Houston Methodist DeBakey Heart and Vascular Center, past president of the American College of Cardiology and an author of the article, in a statement.

"We must try to better address many of the comorbidities that require special consideration," wrote Dr. Jeffrey L. Anderson, chair of the ACC/AHA Task Force on Practice Guidelines, and associate chief of cardiology at Intermountain Health Care, in Murray, Utah, in a release.

Anderson pointed out that treatments for certain ailments can cause complications when coupled with other problems. "For example, arthritis is very common in older individuals who take analgesics that can make them more vulnerable to stomach bleeding, and blood thinners can cause serious consequences if stomach bleeding occurs, as can bladder complications," he wrote.

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