PITTSBURGH (October 5, 2023) — Individuals with a diseases of despair diagnosis are 42 percent more likely to develop a cardiovascular condition, according to a retrospective study by Highmark Health Enterprise Analytics and the Penn State Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI).
During the past 15 years, life expectancy has decreased while premature deaths have increased across the United States. The trend is partly driven by a rise in diseases and deaths related to alcohol use, drug use, and self-harm, otherwise termed by researchers as diseases of despair (DoD). Another contributing factor to this trend includes preventable, cardiovascular diseases such as heart disease and stroke…
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