MMH recognized for its commitment to excellence in cardiovascular care for 6 years in a row

 Two absolute stupidities here: 

1. Stroke has been called neurological disease by the WHO since 2006 not cardiovascular, once again proving our medical 'professionals' don't keep up to date in their field! Why would your trust anything coming out of such incompetence?
2. And 'care'; Survivors don't care about 'care; THEY WANT 100% RECOVERY! ARE YOU THAT FUCKING STUPID?

MMH recognized for its commitment to excellence in cardiovascular care for 6 years in a row

• Midland Memorial Hospital has received two American Heart Association Get With The Guidelines achievement awards for following evidence-based treatment guidelines to improve patient outcomes and reduce hospital readmissions.

Midland Memorial Hospital (MMH) has received two American Heart Association Get With The Guidelines achievement awards for demonstrating a commitment to following up-to-date, research-based guidelines for the treatment of heart disease and stroke, helping save lives, support recovery and reduce hospital readmissions.

Heart disease and stroke are the No. 1 and No. 4 causes of death in the United States, respectively, according to the American Heart Association's 2026 Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics Report.

Studies show patients can experience better outcomes when care(NOT RECOVERY!) teams consistently follow evidence-based treatment guidelines.

Get With The Guidelines puts the expertise of the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association to work for hospitals nationwide, helping ensure patient care(NOT RECOVERY!) is aligned with the latest science-backed guidelines. As a participant in the Get With The Guidelines programs, MMH qualified for the awards by demonstrating a sustained commitment to improving the quality of cardiovascular care(NOT RECOVERY!).

"MMH is committed to delivering high-quality care(NOT RECOVERY!) by adhering to the latest treatment guidelines and streamlining processes to ensure timely, appropriate care(NOT RECOVERY!) for heart attacks and strokes," Stephen Bowerman, president/chief executive officer, said in a news release. "Get With The Guidelines programs help our teams put proven science into practice every day, supporting better outcomes so more people in the greater Midland area can live longer, healthier lives."

This year, Midland Memorial Hospital received these achievement awards:

* Get With The Guidelines-Coronary Artery Disease STEMI Receiving Gold with Target: Type 2 Diabetes

* Get With The Guidelines-Coronary Artery Disease NSTEMI Gold with Target: Type 2 Diabetes

"These awards reflect MMH's commitment to caring for people in their community who need cardiovascular care(NOT RECOVERY!)," said Karen E. Joynt Maddox, M.D., MPH, chair of the American Heart Association Quality Oversight Committee. "By following the American Heart Association's quality improvement protocols, MMH can help advance our shared vision of better patient outcomes, fewer readmissions and lower mortality rates — a win for patients, families and health care(NOT RECOVERY!) systems.

The post MMH recognized for its commitment to excellence in cardiovascular care(NOT RECOVERY!) for 6 years in a row appeared first on Odessa American.(So 6 years of incompetence in not knowing shit about stroke!)

Cardiometabolic diseases remain leading cause of excess American mortality

WOW! Even the Boston University School of Public Health doesn't know that stroke has been called neurological disease by the WHO since 2006 not cardiovascular, once again proving our medical 'professionals' don't keep up to date in their field! Why would your trust anything coming out of such incompetence?

Cardiometabolic diseases remain leading cause of excess American mortality

Boston University School of Public HealthMay 8 2026

Between 1999 and 2022, the US had substantially higher death rates than other wealthy nations, largely due to cardiovascular disease, metabolic diseases (including diabetes), Alzheimer's disease and related dementias, and drug and alcohol complications. Policies are needed to address the underlying health, social, and economic conditions that increase Americans' risk of developing these diseases.

Despite having similar access to advanced medical technology, the United States has substantially higher death rates than other high-income countries (HICs), and the gap has been growing for decades. Cardiovascular diseases were the leading cause of excess US deaths, according to a new study led by researchers at Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH). 

Published in JAMA Network Open, the study found that between 1999-2022, the annual number of excess US deaths-deaths that would not have occurred had the mortality rate in the US been the same as in other HICs-increased steadily through 2019 and then rose rapidly during the COVID-19 pandemic. By 2022, all-cause mortality rates in the US were 38 percent higher than in other HICs. An estimated 12.7 million US deaths could have been averted during this period if US mortality rates mirrored those of its peers. The authors refer to these excess US deaths as "missing Americans."

The study investigated the causes of these excess US deaths, and found that cardiovascular diseases, including heart disease, hypertension, and stroke, were the leading cause of excess mortality nearly every year of this period. Together, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases accounted for over half of all excess US deaths in 2022. Drug poisonings, alcohol-related diseases, and suicides emerged as another major cause of excess mortality during this period, particularly among men and people under 45 years old. Homicide and HIV/AIDS also had mortality rates many times higher in the US than in other HICs; however, these causes were responsible for only a small share of excess US deaths. 

The study builds upon previous findings by the researchers which showed that excess US deaths have increased since 1980 and continued to increase even after the COVID-19 pandemic. The new analysis is the first study to identify all leading causes responsible for these excess US deaths-what the authors refer to as a "population autopsy." Quantifying causes of the US mortality disadvantage can reveal opportunities for intervention, including policies to prevent these fatal conditions from occurring in the first place.

"In public health, we know that death certificates only list the most proximate cause of death and not the full causal chain. Differences in social factors between the US and other HICs can lead to differences in behavioral risk factors, which in turn can lead to higher risks of specific causes of death," says study lead and corresponding author Dr. Jacob Bor, associate professor of global health and epidemiology at BUSPH. "These findings pinpoint the issues that we should be focusing on if we want to address the US mortality disadvantage relative to peer countries."

For the study, Dr. Bor and colleagues from BUSPH, Harvard Medical School, and Hunter College at the City University of New York analyzed US excess deaths by sex, age, and year. They utilized cause-of-death data from the World Health Organization Mortality Database for all deaths occurring from 1999-20222 in the US and 17 other HICs, including Australia, Canada, France, Japan, and the United Kingdom. The team compared excess mortality among the countries used three metrics: excess deaths, which is the difference between reported deaths and deaths that would have occurred if the US had the mortality rate of other HICs; years of life lost, which is the years of potential life lost due to premature deaths; and mortality rate ratios, which compare the risk of different causes of death between the US and other countries. 

Among more than 63.5 million total deaths that occurred during this period, the US experienced an estimated 12,675,646 more excess deaths than would have occurred if their death rates were equal to other HICs. Despite declining between 1999-2009, cardiovascular diseases remained the leading cause of excess deaths during the entire study period, except for 2010, before rising sharply and continuously through 2022. Diabetes, kidney, and metabolic conditions also rose sharply from 2010-2022, following no significant increases from 1999-2009. In 2022, mental health and nervous system disorders such as Alzheimer's disease and other dementias were the leading cause of excess death among people 85 and older. Respiratory illnesses, transportation accidents, and homicides were also major causes of US excess deaths. COVID-19 was a leading cause of US excess deaths from 2020-2022, representing 1 in 5 US excess deaths in 2020 and 2021, and also coinciding with sharp increases in other diseases. 

Importantly, the study findings revealed stark differences in the burden of these causes of deaths, depending on whether they were viewed in absolute or relative terms. For example, in 2022, excess deaths from drug poisonings were 7.48 times higher in the US than in other countries, but only accounted for 10 percent of US excess deaths, while cardiovascular diseases were 1.63 times as high in the US than in other countries, but accounted for 40 percent of US excess deaths.

In US population health research, examining the stagnation in US life expectancy that began in 2010 usually focuses on drug overdoses, alcohol-related deaths, and suicide, known as 'deaths of despair.' One dramatic finding from this study is that on an absolute scale, cardiometabolic diseases are key contributors to the increase in US death rates. If there was one thing we could address on a population scale, tackling cardiometabolic diseases would substantially reduce the US mortality gap with other wealthy nations."

Dr. Andrew Stokes, study senior author, associate professor of global health at BUSPH

Drug poisonings are still a critical component of the US excess death conversation, the researchers note, particularly in terms of years of life lost, as this measure focuses on premature deaths and captures the societal burden of losing young people. These deaths represented the fastest increase in excess US deaths, rising from a near-equivalent level with peer countries in 1999 to more than 130,000 excess deaths in 2022, with a particular rise in 2013 after fentanyl entered the US drug supply. These causes also contributed to excess deaths among people ages 45-65.

The US did outperform peer countries in a couple of categories, comprising fewer excess deaths in 2022 for cancers (excluding lung cancer) and influenza, which Dr. Stokes attributes partly to advancements within the US healthcare system. "We've come a long way with medical innovations to screen and treat cancers," he says.

The team says that more research is needed to understand the sharp rise in excess deaths after 2010, but that federal policy changes that address the root causes of these excess deaths with evidence-based interventions will help alleviate the current national mortality burden. 

"While new therapeutics such as GLP-1s could make a major dent in cardiometabolic mortality, our findings suggest that other policies should be considered too," says Dr. Bor. "Countries that have the same, or even worse, access to advanced medical technology perform far better on these metrics than the US. We need to identify the policies that other countries have implemented, and think about how we can emulate those policies in the US."

Source:

Boston University School of Public Health

Journal reference:

Bor, J., et al. Causes of Excess Deaths in the US Compared With Other High-Income Countries. JAMA Network Open. DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2026.6147. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2848779

American Heart Association says threat of heart disease and stroke is growing substantially among women

 WOW, even the AHA is completely fucking out-of-date, they don't know that stroke has been called neurological disease by the WHO since 2006 not cardiovascular, once again proving our medical 'professionals' don't keep up to date in their field! Why would your trust anything coming out of such incompetence?

American Heart Association says threat of heart disease and stroke is growing substantially among women

MADISON (WKOW) -- Over the next 25 years, nearly 6 in 10 women in the U.S. will have some type of cardiovascular disease.

That's according to projections outlined in a new scientific statement from the American Heart Association, published Wednesday in Circulation.

The AHA says nearly 60% of women in the U.S. could have high blood pressure by 2050, up from about 5 in 10 previously reported for 2020.

Findings from the report point to significant increases among women for all types of cardiovascular disease, including heart disease, heart failure, atrial fibrillation and stroke.

Surges are also projected among women for many of the major health factors that contribute to cardiovascular disease, including high blood pressure, obesity and diabetes.

Researchers say what's even more concerning is the prevalence of some health factors is increasing among young girls, ages 2-19, as well.

The increases are even more prevalent among women and girls identifying as American Indian/Alaska Native, Black, Hispanic or multiracial people.

“Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death for women and remains their #1 health risk overall,” said Stacey E. Rosen, M.D., FAHA, volunteer president of the American Heart Association and executive director of the Katz Institute for Women’s Health and senior vice president of women’s health at Northwell Health in New York City. “While many people may think these conditions like high blood pressure are only occurring in older women, we know this is not the case. We know the factors that contribute to heart disease and stroke begin early in life, even among young women and girls. The impact is even greater among those experiencing adverse social determinants of health such as poverty, low literacy, rural residence and other psychosocial stressors. Identifying the types of trends outlined in this report is critical to making meaningful changes that can reverse this course.”

There is some good news ahead as AHA says the rates of high cholesterol are expected to decline among nearly all groups of women.

Additionally, there are improvements expected in some of the health behaviors that impact CVD, including healthier eating, more physical activity and less smoking.

The American Heart Association defines optimal health through its Life’s Essential 8™ — four health behaviors (eat better, be more active, quit tobacco and get healthy sleep) and four health factors (manage weight, control cholesterol, manage blood sugar and manage blood pressure).

This Biomarker May Be More Predictive of Cardiovascular Disease Than Cholesterol

 I guess no one in the medical world reads anything from the WHO. They don't know that stroke has been called neurological disease by the WHO since 2006 not cardiovascular, once again proving our medical 'professionals' don't keep up to date in their field!

This Biomarker May Be More Predictive of Cardiovascular Disease Than Cholesterol

Doctors have long looked at certain risk factors including blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes, smoking, and family history to predict a patient’s risk for cardiovascular disease. But increasingly, another lesser known biomarker, known as high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP), seems to play an important role in whether a patient is at risk for a heart attack or stroke.

As a result, the American College of Cardiology recently published a report that found hsCRP strongly predicts recurrent cardiovascular events and elevated hsCRP in otherwise healthy individuals puts them into a higher-risk group, even if cholesterol levels are normal.

“High-sensitivity CRP has been shown to be an independent marker of risk in addition to and in some cases over and above all other risk factors that we typically talk about including smoking, diabetes, blood pressure, cholesterol, and weight,” said James D. Mills, MD, a cardiologist at RWJBarnabas Health in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

What is CRP?

CRP is produced by the liver when the body’s immune system is fighting infection or when chronic immune issues like rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and heart disease cause levels to remain elevated.

Rohit Vuppuluri, MD

HsCRP is a more sensitive test that’s less likely to show inflammation caused by infection or an injury because it looks for smaller increases that are the result of low grade, long-term inflammation, more likely to be caused by cardiovascular and autoimmune disease.

“The plaque in your arteries is deemed a foreign s

Cardiovascular health in the United States: Exploring the good, the bad and the ugly

 

 WOW! Even the American College of Cardiology (ACC) doesn't know that stroke has been called neurological disease by the WHO since 2006 not cardiovascular, once again proving our medical 'professionals' don't keep up to date in their field!

Cardiovascular health in the United States: Exploring the good, the bad and the ugly

In many ways, cardiovascular health throughout the United States has improved significantly over the years. However, thanks in part to an aging population and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, there are certain areas where patient outcomes are trending in the wrong direction.

To learn more about this topic, researchers performed the first comprehensive report of its kind, tracking the latest data on a variety of risk factors and cardiovascular conditions. They published their findings in JACC, the flagship publication of the American College of Cardiology (ACC).[1] 

“Progress in cardiovascular health depends on knowing where we stand,” wrote first author Rishi K. Wadhera, MD, MPP, MPhil, associate director and section head of health policy at Richard A. and Susan F. Smith Center for Outcomes Research at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and colleagues. “To improve, we must measure—not occasionally, but consistently, transparently and with purpose.”

One key takeaway from the report is that there is still plenty of room for improvement in terms of patient outcomes.

“Across all risk factors and conditions, persistent disparities by race, geography, and socioeconomic status emerge as a central finding—one that demands focused attention and action,” the authors wrote. “The report also reveals other critical gaps: places where information is incomplete, where our collective understanding falls short, and where new data are urgently needed.”

In their analysis, Wadhera et al. examined several key areas of cardiovascular health:

Hypertension

Hypertension rates have stayed the same for many years, possibly due to a lack of progress in the field in terms of new therapies. One-third of U.S. adults with hypertension miss out altogether on medical treatment, the authors noted, and that statistic has showed “no evidence of improvement” over the last 15 years. 

“Even among those receiving treatment, blood pressure control rates remain suboptimal,” the authors wrote. “As of 2021-2023, only 66.6% of adults with hypertension achieved blood pressure control on medical therapy, with little evidence of improvement over the past 15 years. These patterns in hypertension treatment and control vary by age, sex, and income levels.”

One concerning trend—again, due in part to an aging U.S. population—is the fact that hypertension-related deaths have increased significantly. In fact, they nearly doubled from 23 per 100,000 adults in 2000, to 43 per 100,000 adults in 2019. 

Diabetes

Even with more and more diabetes drugs hitting the market—and many of them crossing over to a more general population—this is one area that has seen little positive progress in recent years. Diabetes rates are on the rise, especially among younger adults, low-income adults and non-Hispanic Black adults. Glycemic control rates remain low, the authors added, and mortality has increased.

“Treatment of diabetes is critical to prevent the onset of serious complications, including heart disease, stroke, and kidney disease,” the authors wrote. “Beyond established therapies such as insulin and oral antihyperglycemic medications, novel classes of antihyperglycemic agents—sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors and glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists—have emerged in recent years and transformed diabetes management. Beyond lowering glucose, these medications reduce major cardiovascular events, heart failure (HF) hospitalizations, and kidney disease progression. Although use of these therapies is increasing, uptake remains uneven across health systems and insurance types.”

Obesity

The management of overweight/obese patients is another area where there is still plenty of room for improvement. The mean BMI for U.S. adults increased from 28.6 kg/m² in 2011-2012 to 29.6 kg/m² in 2021-2023, for example, and the percentage of adults who can be categorized as obese has also climbed. Obesity-related mortality is on the rise as well, jumping from 1.8 per 100,000 adults in 2010 to 3.1 per 100,000 adults in 2020.

“Despite transformative pharmacologic advances like GLP-1 therapies and effective behavioral and surgical treatments, obesity care remains profoundly underutilized,” the authors wrote. 

The authors did share some positive news in this area: The percentage of U.S. adults who are overweight has decreased in the last decade or so.

LDL cholesterol

There has been some definite improvement in the LDL cholesterol (LDL-C) levels of U.S. adults. Even with that progress, however, the levels remain “suboptimal.” The report’s authors emphasized that far too many U.S. adults with a history of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) are still not hitting their guideline-recommended LDL-C targets.

“Statins and other lipid-lowering therapies remain underused, underscoring persistent gaps in implementation,” they added.

Cigarette smoking

One major victory in the fight against cardiovascular disease is the significant decline in cigarette smoking rates. In fact, smoking is down among men, women an all racial/ethnic groups. 

“Tobacco use is a well-established and modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular disease,” the authors wrote. “Smoking drives excess rates of coronary heart disease, acute myocardial infarction, stroke, heart failure, and peripheral artery disease. Understanding patterns and trends in cigarette use remains critical for ongoing efforts to reduce the burden of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality.”

Coronary heart disease

Coronary heart disease, which includes coronary artery disease (CAD) and any patient with a history of myocardial infarction, is a mix of positive and concerning trends. Ischemic heart disease decreased substantially from 1990 to 2019, for instance, but then CAD rates have increased across the board from 2019 to today. CAD-related mortality has also increased slightly since 2019—however, prior to that uptick, it was down dramatically from 2000 to 2020. The authors said those gains were likely due to progress in risk factor management and treatment. 

Acute myocardial infarctions

Another positive takeaway from this new report is the fact that acute myocardial infarction (AMI) deaths and hospitalizations are both decreasing as time goes on. However, some of these gains have not been universal. 

“Decreases in AMI hospitalizations have not been realized equally among different patient groups,” the authors wrote. “Women, Black adults, individuals dually enrolled in Medicare and Medicaid, and those living in rural communities experience a disproportionate burden of AMI. Moreover, emerging data suggest a reversal of progress among younger adults aged 25 to 64 years, for whom age-standardized AMI hospitalization rates increased from 155 to 161 per 100,000 person-years between 2008 and 2019.”

Heart failure

Heart failure-related mortality was on the decline from 1999 to 2011, but then that trend stopped in its tracks. COVID-19 made the statistics much worse, but this is a trend that was apparent well before the pandemic.

While the use of various heart failure medications is rising, their adoption has still been much slower than one may hope.  

“Beyond the use of guideline-directed medical therapy, multiple national programs and policies have aimed to improve transitions of care, discharge planning, and postdischarge care for older adults hospitalized with heart failure, with mixed evidence on how they have impacted quality and outcomes,” the group wrote.

Peripheral artery disease

Lower extremity peripheral artery disease (PAD) remains underdiagnosed in the United States, and nearly one-half of PAD patients who undergo treatment are not being discharged on the proper medications. In addition, major amputations remain common for these patients, suggesting there is still a lot of work to be done in terms of both diagnosis and management.

“Outcomes of amputation, whether above or below the ankle, are poor,” the authors noted.

Stroke(This is ugly, not knowing it is not a cardiovascular disease)

Stroke-related mortality has decreased substantially over the last several decades, representing a major accomplishment for the U.S. healthcare system. Among Black and middle-aged adults, however, there have been “concerning increases” that cardiologists should keep an eye on going forward. 

The quality of care(NOT RECOVERY!) for stroke patients, meanwhile, “has improved markedly,” though there is still room for improvement.

Survivors want recovery; when will that get through your thick heads?

‘A more effective path forward’

“If we want a healthier future, we must understand how far we have come, how far we have yet to go and what stands in our way,” Harlan M. Krumholz, MD, editor-in-chief of JACC, said in a statement about the importance of this report. “By putting data at the center of JACC’s collective awareness, we aim to help the cardiovascular community, including clinicians, researchers, policymakers and the public, see the landscape clearly and chart a more effective path forward.”

Click here to read the report in full.

Heart Disease and Stroke Behind Quarter of All Deaths in U.S.

 WOW! Even the American Heart Association doesn't know that stroke has been called neurological disease by the WHO since 2006 not cardiovascular, once again proving our medical 'professionals' don't keep up to date in their field!

Heart Disease and Stroke Behind Quarter of All Deaths in U.S.

Despite gains in treatment, cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death in the United States, accounting for nearly three in 10 fatalities — 916,000 — in 2023, according to a report published Wednesday by the American Heart Association.

It outnumbers deaths from the second and third leading causes — cancer and accidental injuries — combined.

Remainder at link.

WHO warns of lack of resources to treat neurological disorders

 Don't worry, our fucking failures of stroke associations are DOING NOTHING TO SOLVE THIS!

All they are capable of doing is press releases!

WHO warns of lack of resources to treat neurological disorders

(NewsNation) — More than 1 in 3 people are living with a neurological condition, the World Health Organization found, and countries aren’t prepared to deal with it.

The WHO’s Global status report on neurology found 40% of the global population is affected by neurological conditions.

That amounts to more than 3 billion people and results in 11 million deaths globally each year.

The top neurological conditions that led to death and disability in 2021 were stroke, neonatal encephalopathy, migraine, Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, diabetic neuropathy, meningitis, epilepsy, neurological complications from preterm birth, autism spectrum disorders and cancers affecting the nervous system.

Despite the number of neurological disorders, the WHO found that low-income countries have more than 80 times fewer neurologists compared to high-income nations.

“With more than 1 in 3 people in the world living with conditions affecting their brain, we must do all we can to improve the health care they need,” said Dr Jeremy Farrar, WHO assistant director-general. “Many of these neurological conditions can be prevented or effectively treated, yet services remain out of reach for most – especially in rural and underserved areas — where people too often face stigma, social exclusion and financial hardship.”

Only 63 member countries have a national policy addressing neurological disorders, and just 34 reported dedicated funding for addressing neurological conditions.

The report found that essential services are out of reach for the majority of people, with just 49 countries including neurological disorders in their universal health coverage.

The WHO also found services such as stroke units, pediatric neurology, neurological rehab and palliative care were lacking or largely unavailable in urban areas. It also found a lack of qualified health professionals.

The report also found a shortage of carer services, which are often a lifelong need with neurological conditions. Without those services, the burden of caring for neurological patients falls on informal caregivers, who are predominantly women and are left with little support.

The organization issued recommendations, including expanding access to neurological care, creating policy around neurological disorders and promoting brain health.