Tackling the burden of chronic diseases in the USA.

Chronic disorders include diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidaemia, heart failure, depression, arthritis, and cancer, among others. The most common chronic diseases in adults in the USA are hypertension, hyperlipidaemia, and diabetes. However, long-term conditions are also affecting the country's children; one in three is predicted to develop diabetes, largely owing to obesity. The number of patients with diabetes is set to double in the next 25 years (from 24 million to 48 million), and similar predictions have been made for most chronic conditions. Currently, two-thirds of all deaths in the USA are attributable to one of five chronic disorders: cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes, heart disease, and stroke.