The Burden of Chronic Disease

Abstract

Chronic diseases like diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and cancer have been and continue to be some of the major causes of worldwide morbidity and mortality. A transition between infectious and noncommunicable diseases occurred in the early 1900s as a result of improved public health and has persisted ever since. Now, as individuals live longer, the prevalence and cost of chronic disease continue to grow. The estimated cost of chronic disease is expected to reach $47 trillion worldwide by 2030. Individual lifestyle and behaviors and community factors play important roles in the development and management of chronic diseases. Many of these conditions (diabetes, heart disease, and respiratory diseases) are preventable, and their leading risk factors are physical inactivity, poor nutrition, tobacco use, and excessive alcohol. Unfortunately, the investment in prevention remains small compared with treatment, both from a lifestyle perspective and a social determinants of health perspective. Given the future trajectory of chronic disease, innovation in technology and pharmaceuticals with a concomitant investment in prevention will be required. Our future depends on it.

Figure 1

Heart disease death rates among adults aged ≥35 years of age, sex, and race and Hispanic ethnicity group—United States, 2010-2020.

Figure 2

Annual rates of cancer deaths, 1999-2019. All types of cancer, United States.

Figure 3

Top 10 cancers by rates of cancer deaths United States 2019, all races and ethnicities, man and woman.

Figure 4

Trends in age-adjusted prevalence of diagnosed diabetes, undiagnosed diabetes, and total diabetes among adults aged 18 years or older, United States, 2001-2020.

Figure 5

Projected number of people age 65 years and older (total and by age) in the US population with Alzheimer dementia, 2020-2060.