In a new study, researchers found American women have better control of high blood pressure but are more obese than men.
The research was conducted by the University of Oxford.
Previous studies have shown that Heart disease is the leading cause of death worldwide and accounts for about one in three deaths in the United States.
However, be avoided by keeping blood pressure and cholesterol at healthy levels, by not smoking, and by maintaining a healthy weight.
In the current study, the team examined data between 2001 to 2016 from the United States National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys of adults aged 20 to 79 years.
They compared results from the earliest four-year period (2001-04) to the latest period (2014-16).
The team found the number of people with high blood pressure dropped. From 43% of women to 42% and for men, from 51% to 49%.
But, only 30% of women and 22% of men had adequate control of their hypertension by 2016.
They also found BMI increased more in women than men: up from an average BMI of 28.1 to 29.6 for women, and for men 27.9 to 29.
Also by 2016, while 11% more men than women were overweight, obesity was 5% more common in women.
For cholesterol, women fared worse than men with levels decreasing by 44% more in men than women over the survey period—by 13mg/dL for men compared with only 9 mg/dL for women.
For diabetes, rates went up by 3% in both sexes; to 11% in women and 13% in men. Just 30% of women compared with 20% of men had their diabetes under control by 2016.
The findings suggest that since the Millennium, there have been reductions in blood pressure and cholesterol levels and in rates of smoking across adults in the United States.
However, the team suggests that these rates leave much room for improvement, and the average BMI has gone up, with the greatest risk for women.
There is also a welcome increase in the number of people who were managing their diabetes and high blood pressure.
But, around two-thirds of women and 80% of men still don’t have these conditions under control and that’s incredibly concerning.
Dr. Sanne Peters, Research Fellow in Epidemiology at The George Institute, UK, led the research.
The study is published in Circulation.
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Further reading: Circulation.
