A new study published in JAMA Cardiology has revealed a troubling trend: many Americans, especially young adults and women, are unaware they have serious health problems like high blood pressure, diabetes, and high cholesterol.
These three conditions are some of the biggest risk factors for heart disease and early death—but millions of people don’t even know they have them.
The research comes from health policy experts at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. Dr. Rishi Wadhera, who helped lead the study, says the findings are especially worrying for young adults. According to the study, about 1 in 3 young adults had high blood pressure and didn’t know it.
Around 2 in 5 were unaware they had diabetes, and 1 in 4 didn’t know their cholesterol levels were too high. That means millions of people in their 20s, 30s, and early 40s are walking around with hidden health risks that could lead to heart attacks or strokes later on.
Heart disease is the number one cause of death in the United States. It kills roughly one in every three Americans, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
While death rates from heart disease dropped significantly from the 1960s to the early 2000s—thanks to public health campaigns, new medications, and better surgeries—those numbers have started rising again. The most concerning part? More young adults and women under age 55 are dying from heart-related problems today than a decade ago.
To understand what’s going wrong, Dr. Wadhera and his team looked at data from a long-running national survey called NHANES (short for the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey). This survey combines interviews and health tests to get a snapshot of how Americans are doing.
The researchers analyzed information from over 15,000 adults who had been diagnosed with at least one of the three major risk factors (high blood pressure, diabetes, or high cholesterol) through lab tests or physical exams.
One of their biggest findings was that the number of people who didn’t know they had high blood pressure increased over the 10-year study period—from 2013 to 2023. This rise was seen mainly among younger adults aged 20 to 44.
Older adults, on the other hand, remained more aware of their blood pressure. The study also found that more women were unaware of having high blood pressure than before, while the numbers for men stayed about the same.
Interestingly, the rates of unawareness for diabetes and high cholesterol didn’t change much overall. But the fact that so many people still don’t know they have these conditions is a major concern.
Why is this happening? Dr. Daniel Johnson, the study’s lead author, believes part of the problem is that young adults often don’t go to the doctor unless they’re seriously sick. Many don’t have regular checkups or access to preventive care.
They might not feel any symptoms, so they assume they’re healthy. But high blood pressure is often called the “silent killer” for a reason—it can quietly damage the heart, kidneys, and blood vessels without any warning signs.
Dr. Wadhera says this is exactly why public health efforts need to focus more on younger adults. They need to understand that just because they feel fine doesn’t mean they are fine.
Screening for blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar levels is quick, easy, and can save lives. The earlier problems are found, the sooner they can be treated—and the better the chances of avoiding serious illness later in life.
In summary, this study is a wake-up call. Too many people—especially young adults and women—are unaware of dangerous conditions that increase their risk of heart disease.
With heart-related deaths on the rise again, it’s more important than ever to encourage regular health checkups and raise awareness about the hidden risks of high blood pressure, diabetes, and high cholesterol. Prevention starts with knowing your numbers.
If you care about high blood pressure, please read studies about breakfast for better blood pressure management, and the gut feeling that lowers blood pressure.
For more health information, please see recent studies about how the dash diet helps lower blood pressure, and how to eat your way to healthy blood pressure.
The research findings can be found in JAMA Cardiology.
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