Heart Disease in Vermont

Heart disease, also called cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the second leading cause of death in Vermont. Almost half of Americans and over half of Vermonters have at least one of the key risk factors for CVD: 

•    High blood pressure (hypertension)
•    High blood cholesterol 
•    Smoking

Other health conditions and behaviors that can lead to CVD are: 

•    Diabetes
•    Overweight and obesity
•    Poor diet 
•    Physical inactivity
•    Excessive alcohol use

For a complete look at CVD in Vermont, including prevalence, geographic distribution, hospitalization trends, mortality, co-morbidities, chronic disease risk factors, and more: Cardiovascular Disease Data Pages.

Information for Healthcare Providers

What can I do to help my patients?

There are many different tools and resources you can use to address CVD risk factors in your patient population. As you know, the preventable risk factors for CVD are:

Risk factors that can be changed:

  • High blood pressure
  • High blood cholesterol
  • Diabetes and prediabetes
  • Smoking 
  • Being overweight or obese 
  • Being physically inactive 
  • Unhealthy diet 

Vermont Hypertension Toolkit
This comprehensive resource was created by the Vermont Department of Health, Vermont Blueprint for Health, One Care Vermont, University of Vermont Medical Center and the New England Quality Innovation Network-Quality Improvement Organization in 2017. It can be used by providers and clinical professionals to identify and manage hypertension in patient populations.

Million Hearts is a great resource for health care providers and other professionals who want to address the preventable risk factors and better identify and manage CVD in their patient populations. 

The links below provide information on the following subjects:

More resources for health professionals
Resources for patients and clients

Consider referring these resources to your patients:

Topics:
Chronic Disease | Heart Health | Resources for Physicians
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