Category: Health

(NEW YORK ) — Fewer people are dying from heart disease, but the condition is still the leading cause of death in the U.S., a new report from the American Heart Association (AHA) finds.

Although death rates from heart disease have dropped for the first time in the past five years, it still kills more Americans than any other condition, according to the report, published early Wednesday in the journal Circulation.

Annual heart disease deaths decreased by 2.7% between 2022 and 2023 — from 941,652 to 915,973, according to the report. However, cardiovascular disease still killed more people in the U.S. than cancer and accidents combined.

Deaths related to blockages in the coronary arteries, which are blood vessels that wrap around the heart’s surface, decreased by 5.9% from 371,506 to 349,470 over the same period, the report found.

Coronary artery disease often leads to a heart attack, with two people dying of coronary heart disease every three minutes, the report noted.

Other chronic conditions that damage blood vessels and increase risks for heart disease are also common among Americans, according to the report.

The percentage of U.S. adults with high blood pressure increased slightly to 47.3% while the rate of obesity decreased slightly to 50%, the report found. However, obesity is on the rise among the younger generation — increasing from 25.4% to 28.1% among those between ages 2 and 19, according to the report.

Prevention, including addressing risk factors, remains key in reducing heart disease deaths, Dr. Sadiya Khan, a board-certified cardiologist at Northwestern and vice chair of the volunteer committee behind the report, told ABC News.

“We cannot cure heart disease and so, if we wait until symptoms are present, we are left with trying to manage symptoms and treat, which saves lives but the yield of prevention is even greater,” she said.

There are four lifestyle behaviors and four health metrics essential for heart health, according to the AHA report. These include healthy eating, physical activity, sleeping well and quitting tobacco as well as controlling weight, cholesterol, blood sugar and blood pressure.

Addressing these eight factors could prevent up to 40% of heart disease deaths and lower the risk of developing major heart disease symptoms by up to 74%, according to a 2024 analysis from researchers in the Netherlands and Sweden.

Those same preventative measures have benefits beyond the heart, Khan pointed out. They can also help slow brain aging and lower the risk for dementia. Managing blood pressure is especially helpful against cognitive decline, she added.

Reducing cardiovascular disease in the U.S. could improve the health of not just the general public but also the health of the economy, Dr. Jennifer Miao, a board-certified Yale cardiologist and ABC Medical Unit fellow, told ABC News.

“We’re seeing an incredible financial burden of cardiovascular disease on the U.S. economy, with an estimated average of $414.7 billion in direct and indirect costs of treating cardiovascular disease from 2021 to 2022,” she said.

Despite the well-documented positive effects from good lifestyle habits, getting Americans to focus on their cardiovascular health has been an uphill battle, Khan said.

For example, only one in four US adults currently meet national guidelines for both aerobic and muscle-strengthening exercise. Additionally, only 43.5% of Americans with type 2 diabetes have their condition under control, according to the report.

“Staying physically active and engaging in regular exercise routines to the best of your ability are day-to-day goals that can significantly impact your overall health,” Miao said. “Talk to your health care provider about any questions you might have on safe exercise plans and appropriate health screenings that are suited for you as an individual.”

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(NEW YORK) — The American Red Cross declared a severe emergency blood shortage on Monday and called on people to donate.

The humanitarian organization, which says it’s the largest supplier of blood products for hospitals and for patient need in the U.S., said the demand from hospitals has outpaced the available supply of blood.

Dr. Courtney Lawrence, divisional chief medical officer at American Red Cross, told ABC News that almost one-third of the organization’s blood stores across the country have been depleted due to hospital need.

Lawrence said inclement winter weather, which has forced more than 400 Red Cross blood drives around the U.S. to be canceled, is among the reasons that donations are down.

Additionally, the U.S. is experiencing a moderately severe flu season, with some states reporting record levels of weekly cases and hospitalizations.

“That can overwhelm our health care system, and it can also mean that donors may not be feeling well enough to come in to donate or may be busy taking care of their loved ones who are sick,” Lawrence said.

When blood supplies are low, it can affect the ability to treat patients in need including trauma patients, chemotherapy patients with underlying blood disorders, those living with sickle cell disease and others, Lawrence said. She called on Americans to donate if they’re able to.

Reihaneh Hajibeigi, 34, from Austin, Texas, was one of those patients in need, telling ABC News that blood transfusions saved her life.

Hajibeigi said she lost a lot of blood while giving birth to her first child in 2023, and that the hospital gave her some blood and sent her home with her husband and newborn daughter.

“After about a couple weeks, things started to not be so great,” she told ABC News. “What I assumed was just being new mom tired really turned into fatigue. I was losing a lot of blood. I was starting to just not feel so great”

When Hajibeigi went back to the doctor two and a half weeks after giving birth, she said medical staff discovered she had retained a roughly four-centimeter piece of placenta on her uterine wall that was becoming toxic.

Hajibeigi said she underwent a procedure the next morning and began hemorrhaging during the operation, losing about 40% of her total blood volume.

In the recovery room, Hajibeigi said she started to crash again from the loss of blood and doctors raced to give her a blood transfusion.

“Fortunately, they had the blood on hand. They were able to get it into my system and basically brought me back to life,” she said.

Hajibeigi said she hopes that by sharing her story, she can encourage people to donate if they’re able, especially knowing there’s a chance their donation can help someone in need.

“It just made it that much clearer how vital blood donations are and how much sometimes we take it for granted, just assuming that the blood supply was always going to be intact,” she said. “And in that case, I needed the blood. Wonderful.”

“It’s a scary thought to think what if the blood product that I needed wasn’t there?” Hajibeigi said. “Then what would have happened?”

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(SPARTANBURG COUNTY, S.C.) — At least 88 new measles cases in South Carolina have been confirmed amid the state’s outbreak, bringing the total number of infections to 646, state health officials said Tuesday.

The majority of cases have been found in the Upstate region and around Spartanburg County, which sits on the border with North Carolina.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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(WASHINGTON) — On the last day to enroll in Affordable Care Act (ACA) health insurance plans in most states, President Donald Trump presented his own ideas for a health care plan that left some health policy experts that spoke to ABC News with unanswered questions.

Trump has long been asked for a health care plan amid sustained criticism of the ACA, which was signed into law by President Barack Obama. “The Great Healthcare Plan” presents a proposal to shift government insurance subsidies directly to consumers through health savings accounts and take advantage of his “most favored nation” drug price initiative.

“My plan would reduce your insurance premiums by stopping government payoffs to big insurance companies and sending that money directly to the people,” Trump said in a video announcing the plan.

However, the video and one-page fact sheet posted on the White House website were light on specifics about how much would actually go to Americans or how much funding the plan would require or how the funds would be distributed.

Dr. Sachin Jain, a former official in the Department of Health and Human Services during the Obama administration, acknowledged that it’s a “pretty big step” for Trump to articulate health care as a major priority during his second term.

Jain, who is now the president and CEO of SCAN Group and SCAN Health Plan, a not-for-profit Medicare Advantage provider, told ABC News “health care is one of these areas where the devil is always in the details” in terms of what changes could be implemented.

Aside from lowering drug prices through most-favored nation deals and cutting back on insurance subsidies, the plan proposes a cost-sharing provision that the Congressional Budget Office estimates would reduce most Obamacare premiums by 10%.

The plan also proposes to hold insurance companies accountable with a “Plain English” standard and institute pricing requirements for providers who accept Medicare and Medicaid to “prominently post their pricing and fees.”

Trump urged Congress to “pass this framework into law without delay.”

Some provisions will have ‘virtually no effect’

Some health policy experts believe with just a one-page fact sheet that there’s no way to tell how impactful these ideas could be and if they will expand on the plans already in existence through the ACA.

“Several of these provisions would have virtually no effect because they’re already in the ACA, or they look very similar to ones that are already in the ACA,” KFF Senior Vice President Cynthia Cox told ABC News.

Cox, the director of the Program on the ACA at the independent health policy research organization, stressed that Trump’s plan, in many respects, already exists, including price transparency and holding big insurance companies accountable.

Speaking about his plan, the president said Thursday that “nobody’s ever heard of” this idea to give money directly to the consumer, but Jain noted that what’s known as “consumerism” has been around for a long time.

“One of the big challenges with consumerism is health care is a complex industry to navigate, and people don’t often understand what it is that they’re buying or not buying,” Jain told ABC News.

Patients might also have a “degree of anxiety” because they don’t always know what bill they’re going to get, according to Jain.

“When it comes to true consumerism, shopping for health care isn’t like shopping for other goods and services, mostly because people don’t actually want to consume more health care,” he said.

Cox stressed that not only is giving money directly to Americans not a new proposal, it was already in multiple Republican proposals that failed to advance through the Senate in December.

Senate Health Committee Chairman Bill Cassidy argued at the time of the bill’s consideration that his legislative package would have put “thousands in patients’ pockets” to help pay for their out-of-pocket expenses. But the measure failed by a 51-48 vote just days before the expiration of the enhanced ACA tax credits.

White House officials on Thursday said Congress’ legislative plans haven’t been able to “effectuate” Trump’s desire to pay people directly for their health care costs. Without referencing any lawmakers and their existing packages specifically, the administration officials told reporters on Thursday that the White House has engaged with many Hill “allies” on the details of the president’s new plan.

Cox said she believes the president’s new strategy could also create problems for vulnerable Americans, leaving them with no option for health insurance if they don’t get it through their employer.

“One possible interpretation of this [plan] is that, you know, if you give cash to people without any requirement that they use that cash to purchase ACA marketplace coverage — or coverage that has protections for people with pre-existing conditions — then you might see that healthy people use taxpayer dollars to purchase coverage that’s not compliant with the Affordable Care Act,” Cox told ABC News.

“What that would mean is that the ACA or Obamacare markets become destabilized, possibly to the point of collapsing, which would leave people who have pre-existing conditions and who would otherwise rely on that coverage without any options,” she said.

“It could effectively do away with the pre-existing condition protection provisions of the Affordable Care Act, and at least for people who are buying their own health insurance, which is over 20 million people,” Cox added.

What’s next?

Experts suggest it’s too early to tell how soon the new proposal could impact people’s health care, especially with Congress virtually gone through Tuesday.

White House officials said the president wants Congress to codify his plan, but didn’t specify how much input congressional leaders had on the new proposal.

The House last week passed a Democratic-led bill that would see the enhanced premium tax credits extended by three years.

But a path forward that sends the legislation through the Senate to the Resolute Desk for Trump’s signature remains in question.

GOP Senate Majority Leader John Thune has said that there’s “no appetite” for an extension in the upper chamber but pointed to ongoing bipartisan talks on the extensions between senators and House members.

Since Trump’s video announcement, House Speaker Mike Johnson has vowed to continue deliberative discussions with the White House to lower health care costs for Americans.

In reference to the president’s healthcare plan, Cassidy said his Senate committee will “take action” on Trump’s affordability agenda. Republican Sen. Roger Marshall also lobbied to work with the president on a comprehensive package that includes his bill to make health care more affordable.

Still, Democratic Sen. Patty Murray blasted the plan in a post on X, writing that it took the president over a decade to come up with a health care plan that is “one entire page.”

“It will do absolutely NOTHING to stop your premiums from more than doubling,” she said.

Meanwhile, the president’s plan came on the last day to enroll in ACA health insurance plans in most states, with a few exceptions. According to government data, about 1.4 million fewer people have signed up so far this year, as premiums skyrocketed after ACA tax credits expired at the end of 2025.

Cox, at KFF, emphasized that many people could face dire consequences with the health care coverage currently available to them.

“People are really, in some cases, facing life or death decisions because they can’t afford to pay another $10,000 to keep their insurance coverage, which might mean they go uninsured,” she said.

ABC News’ Allison Pecorin and Mary Kekatos contributed to this report.

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(NEW YORK) — As measles continues to spread across the U.S., with outbreaks popping up around the country, public health experts have been stressing the importance of getting vaccinated to stop the spread of disease.

This has involved local doctors and health department workers going into outbreak areas to offer the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine.

The MMR vaccine is typically a two-dose series given first at 12-15 months old and again at 4-6 years of age. An extra dose can be given as early 6 months old in high-risk circumstances, including during a measles outbreak. 

Health experts working in and near measles outbreaks told ABC News that vaccine acceptance has been mixed among these communities, with some people begging to get their kids vaccinated early, while others still refuse an immunization. 

“[Measles] can spread so quickly amongst that unvaccinated population,” Dr. Christopher Lombardozzi, chief medical officer at Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System, told ABC News. “And if the number of people who remain unvaccinated stays large, then we could have a real problem, not just this year, but in years to come.”

Vaccine hesitancy in outbreak areas

The upstate region of South Carolina is experiencing a surge in measles cases amid the ongoing outbreak. 

The South Carolina Department of Public Health (DPH) reported 223 new cases over the last week, bringing the total number of cases in the outbreak to 434 since October, with over 400 people currently in quarantine due to exposure. Spartanburg County, which borders North Carolina, is currently the epicenter of the outbreak.

A spokesperson for Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System told ABC News that, as of Jan. 9, there have been 77 confirmed measles cases across the system since the outbreak began.

Lombardozzi said the health care system has seen some increased vaccine uptake, but not as much as they hoped for.

“We certainly have had some more uptake of vaccine in the last six months or so, since the outbreak started here in South Carolina, and I’m happy for that,” Lombardozzi said. “I would love to see a higher uptake. There is still quite a bit of vaccine hesitancy around here, and I think it’s unwarranted.”

Lombardozzi added that addressing vaccine hesitancy takes time and support.

“We try to support people, meet them where they are, and hopefully they will change their mind if they’ve been vaccine hesitant for a while,” he said.

Lombardozzi worries that without increasing immunizations, the negative effects could ripple for years.

In a press conference on Wednesday, Dr. Linda Bell, state epidemiologist and health program branch director for the South Carolina DPH, said the lack of vaccine acceptance amid the growing outbreak has been “disappointing.”  

Bell said vaccines could have helped prevent a majority of cases, adding, “We have an opportunity to prevent further cases, if people can adopt these available tools and help us stop this outbreak sooner rather than later.”

As of Tuesday, another ongoing outbreak in Utah surpassed 200 measles cases since it began in June of last year. The southwest region of Utah has reported 147 of those cases, which equates to a rate of 25.8 cases per 100,000 people in that region. 

David Heaton, public information officer at the Southwest Utah Department of Public Health, told ABC News that cases in southwest Utah and further north have been linked to the same measles virus that spread in Texas and New Mexico last year.

Heaton worries that measles will soon be declared endemic again, ending the decades-long elimination status in the U.S. 

“That’s kind of a discouraging threshold that we’re getting closer to. I think [the loss of elimination status] could be recovered, but it could take a couple of years at least,” Heaton said.

In the Southwest region, vaccine acceptance has been highest among people who were on the fence or those who accidentally missed vaccines, but those with strong beliefs against vaccines have been “fairly immovable,” Heaton added. 

“We’re just seeing the attitude of, ‘I choose not to get vaccinated. I don’t agree with vaccinations, and I’m not going to do it. I don’t feel the risk is high enough to get the vaccine,'” he said.

Some success in vaccine uptake

But there have been examples of success. Last year, during a large outbreak from February to September, the New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH) reported that MMR doses administered were nearly 50% higher than the year prior by October.

The largest gains were due to adult vaccination that increased by about 230% in October 2025 compared to October 2024. Children receiving the MMR shot only increased by about 10% compared to that time the previous year.  

Andrea Romero, immunization program section manager at NMDOH, told ABC News communication was key during the outbreak. Romero said most of the adults who got vaccinated did so because they were unsure of their vaccination status and felt a strong sense of duty to get the shot, not just to protect themselves but to protect their community. 

“When they know that they’re making a difference, it matters,” Romero said. “Every time I take that opportunity [to say], ‘Thank you for being a great community and your response, caring about yourself, your family, your neighbor,’ but it means a lot because it’s their efforts. It was their response that made the difference.”

NMDOH data shared with ABC News shows that 384 children with a vaccine exemption on file received at least one MMR shot between Jan. 13, 2025 and Jan. 13, 2026. This suggests parents of these children changed their minds about the vaccine around the time of New Mexico’s measles outbreak, according to health department officials.

During that same timeframe, at least one MMR dose was the only immunization on record for 189 children in the state, the data shows.

Fears of further measles spread

Doctors near outbreak regions are also experiencing the effects of fears and questions about measles and vaccination from their community. 

Dr. Deborah Greenhouse, a spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics and pediatrician in South Carolina, told ABC News that her community hasn’t had a measles case yet, but parents and healthcare providers are increasingly concerned. 

“As we all know, and as my patients know, measles virus does not respect county borders, so, as the numbers continue to rise, the likelihood that we start seeing cases here in the midlands of South Carolina increases dramatically,” Greenhouse said. 

On Tuesday, health officials announced there was a measles exposure on Jan. 2 in the midlands region at the South Carolina State Museum in Columbia. 

“If more families decline the vaccines, our vaccination rates drop and we become an open target, essentially a sitting duck for an outbreak, much like the Spartanburg area,” Greenhouse said. 

In her experience, building a foundation of trust has been essential for vaccine acceptance.

“They know me, they trust me,” Greenhouse said. “They know that as a pediatrician, I have no interest here other than protecting the best interests of their children and their family.”

She went on, “Families that I’ve known for years, who I have a very strong relationship with, are coming in and asking for every vaccine that they can get, and asking to get the measles, mumps, rubella vaccine early, because they’re very concerned about their children being exposed to measles and not being protected.”

Greenhouse said trying to build trust among families has been particularly challenging amid changing guidance from federal health agencies and widespread misinformation.

“Unfortunately, some of the awful sources right now are people that you used to think you could trust and, as a new parent, I totally understand why it would be incredibly difficult to be able to figure out right now,” Greenhouse said.

Despite changing guidance and misinformation, doctors say the science hasn’t changed, and vaccines remain safe and effective. 

“Amongst the medical community, you’re not going to get much disagreement that the vaccines are safe and that they’re effective,” Lombardozzi said. “The message is, go get your kids their shots if it’s time to get their shots. We certainly encourage folks to go talk to your pediatrician, go talk to your doctor.”

Jade A. Cobern, MD, MPH, is a practicing physician, board-certified in pediatrics and general preventive medicine, and is a medical fellow of the ABC News Medical Unit.

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(SPARTANBURG COUNTY, S.C.) — At least 99 new measles cases are being reported in South Carolina amid the state’s outbreak.

This brings the total number of cases in the state to 310. There are currently 200 people in quarantine, according to health officials.

The outbreak has been ongoing as state health officials continue to push for vaccinations. The majority of cases are located around Spartanburg County.

“The number of those in quarantine does not reflect the number actually exposed,” Dr. Linda Bell, the state epidemiologist, said in a press releases. “An increasing number of public exposure sites are being identified with likely hundreds more people exposed who are not aware they should be in quarantine if they are not immune to measles. Previous measles transmission studies have shown that one measles case can result in up to 20 new infections among unvaccinated contacts.”

South Carolina’s department of public health said it sent a statewide health alert on Jan. 7, “advising health care providers and facilities of the importance of heightened awareness for measles and recommended measures for the use of masks and rapid isolation of suspect measles cases to protect people in health care settings from exposures.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention currently recommends that people receive two doses of the MMR vaccine, the first at ages 12 to 15 months and the second between 4 and 6 years old. One dose is 93% effective, and two doses are 97% effective against measles, the CDC says.

However, CDC data shows vaccination rates have been lagging in recent years. During the 2024-2025 school year, 92.5% of kindergartners received the MMR vaccine, according to data. This is lower than the 92.7% seen the previous school year and the 95.2% seen in the 2019-2020 school year, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

ABC News’ Mary Kekatos contributed reporting.

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(ATLANTA) — Flu activity continues to remain elevated throughout the United States, according to newly released data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC on Friday estimated there have been at least 15 million illnesses, 180,000 hospitalizations and 7,400 deaths from flu so far this season.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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