Deaths from high blood pressure have been rising since 2011

The number of deaths from heart disease, strokes, diabetes, and high blood pressure have increased since 2011, according to new research. Scientists looked at data between 1999 and 2017, and found that although gains had been made in preventing such deaths — collectively called cardiometabolic deaths — until about 2010, rates began leveling off or rising after that. Deaths due to high blood pressure have been increasing, for instance, while deaths from the other conditions have flattened or slowed in decline. The study also found that rates of cardiometabolic deaths were higher among African Americans than white Americans overall, and higher in black men across all causes. The study authors call for public health policies to help prevent the underlying causes behind such deaths.