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In the United States, the leading causes of death in terms of chronic illness are the following: atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) – which includes heart attack and stroke – cancer, metabolic disease, neurodegenerative diseases, and chronic lower respiratory diseases (CLRD).* Despite the exuberant cost of American healthcare, the majority of resources are devoted to treating these diseases after they occur as opposed to taking steps to prevent them.
1. Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease (ASCVD)
ASCVD is the number one cause of death in the United States. Heart attack and stroke kill over 850,000 Americans each year.* Statistically speaking, if you are reading this in the United States, you are likely to have at least one direct family member who has been directly affected by ASCVD.
Because of the nature of these diseases, the presenting symptoms of ASCVD can have life-altering effects on the body, including death, in which the treatment is often too late to make a meaningful impact on morbidity and mortality.
It is our belief at The Carroll Clinic that a proactive approach to assessing and mitigating risk much earlier in life is the most effective way to eliminate these diseases from the list of top chronic killers in our country. There is no reason that so many Americans should still be dying from cardiovascular disease.
2. Cancer
Cancer kills over 600,000 Americans each year.* Statistics indicate that incidence of cancer dramatically rises as we age, particularly over the age of 40. We have made some progress on survival of individual cancers like leukemia and Hodgkin's and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, but our war on cancer is being lost in dramatic fashion. Despite billions of dollars spent on cancer research and treatments, emerging evidence indicates that the prevalence of cancer is increasing in younger populations
It is our belief at The Carroll Clinic that the greatest weapon we have in combating the cancer epidemic is earlier detection and treatment. While we are not capable of fully preventing most types of cancers, there are measures we can take to avoid certain risks that are known risk factors. Just as importantly, for the vast majority of cancers, the earlier they are detected, the greater chance an individual has to beat the disease and/or live a much longer and fuller life despite it.
3. Metabolic Disease
Metabolic diseases broadly include diagnoses like diabetes and chronic liver disease. There are subcategories of both of these diseases, but for the purposes of our clinic, we focus on prevention of type 2 diabetes (T2DM) and various types of fatty liver disease, broadly called steatotic liver disease (SLD), both of which are largely acquired diseases.
What do we mean by acquired? We mean that these diseases are typically products of our modern lifestyle and diet. While there are exceptions to this generalization, T2DM and SLD are largely preventable metabolic disorders – so long as our decisions in terms of diet, alcohol intake, and exercise are at the forefront of our minds. While often reversible in early stages, these chronic diseases must be detected and intercepted before they progress to diseases that significantly detract from both healthspan and lifespan.
4. Neurodegenerative Disease
Neurodegenerative diseases broadly encompass a variety of disorders characterized by cognitive and neuromuscular decline. The most common is Alzheimer's disease, but other disorders plaguing our society include Lewy body dementia and Parkinson's disease. Less common manifestations would include ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease, and Huntington's disease.
This category of chronic disease is by far the least understood and most complicated in terms of prevention. While no solid evidence currently exists stating that any one specific treatment or preventative strategy can stop these disorders from occurring, emerging evidence is pointing to many potential causes that are inextricably linked to the other chronic killers. Our belief is that preventing vascular disease, as well as pursuing rigorous and well monitored nutrition and fitness programs, are the best tools we have to decrease our chances of suffering from these afflictions.
5. CLRD
Chronic lower respiratory diseases, or CLRD, broadly encompasses four major illnesses: asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD), emphysema, and chronic bronchitis. These diseases, once acquired, are not curable. Risk factors for these diseases are well documented and include things like smoking, air pollution, exposure to certain environmental chemicals and dusts, and frequent pulmonary infections in childhood. Like much of our health care system, the focus with these diseases is typically on treatments after diagnosis in order to improve quality of life. We seek to utilize a multi-pronged approach to do eliminate risk factors, control our environments as much as possible, and prevent them from occurring in the first place.
‘Healthcare’ in America is not about health at all; it is sick care. This is not to degrade the efforts of the millions of medical professionals seeking to treat the sick and ease their suffering, but rather to point out that the focus of our health system is largely reactive rather than proactive. This fact, combined with a nightmarish and costly insurance system where adequate coverage is by no means a guarantee, is at the heart of what brought about the establishment of The Carroll Clinic.
We seek to be a part of change that is hopefully coming more widespread to this country. Ideally, healthcare should move away from insurance and red tape, and shift toward a more personal approach that is both affordable and effective. We ask you to consider the effort and money that you put into upkeep of things that you value in life, like your home and your car. We offer the philosophy that there should be nothing more valuable to each individual than the preservation of our bodies. It’s not just about the span of our lives, but extending the span of our health and vitality.
*The information on chronic illnesses listed in this section is reported directly by the CDC and has been verified for accuracy as of Monday June 3, 2024. This site is updated regularly; however, if any information is believed to be conflicting with other evidence or in need of updating, please contact us so we can update our website for accuracy.