Our Health Grade

It looks like our health grade in this country is a little lower than most of us thought.

It's because nearly half of us suffer from one, or more, of three medical conditions that can lead to heart problems---and some of us don't even know we have these health problems.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, just reported that 45% of Americans have either high blood pressure, high cholesterol or diabetes. All three of these are major risk factors for heart disease. Since heart disease continues to affect over 81 million of us and is still responsible for one out of every three deaths here in the US, these medical conditions are still taking their toll on us.

However, this study had a couple of big surprises. Turns out that 13% of adults have two of these medical conditions and 3% had all three--and the more you have, the more at risk you are for a major heart problem. The biggest concern is the 15% of us that don't even know we have an issue---that's how many still don't have their high blood pressure, high cholesterol or diabetes diagnosed. Without a diagnosis you can't get proper treatment.

So, the main lesson from this CDC study is to realize you might suffer from one of these medical issues. The longer it's not treated the higher your chance of having a heart attack or stroke. So, get checked by your doctor sooner rather than later. There's no time to waste when it comes to your health.