One in eight Americans has at least two of the conditions and one in 33 has all three, sharply increasing their risk. Of those with at least one condition, 15 percent have not been diagnosed, according to the report released online.
"The number that really surprises me is the penetration of these conditions into the U.S. population," said Dr. Clyde Yancy of Baylor University Medical Center, president of the American Heart Association. "When that number is nearly 50 percent, that's a huge wake-up call."
It means there are a large number of people "who think they are healthy ... but are working under a terrible misconception," he said.
CHOCOLATE LINKED TO DEPRESSION
Over-indulging in chocolate could be a marker for depression.
Researchers at University of California, San Diego and Davis, examined dietary intake patterns among 931 men and women who were not using antidepressants. The participants were also given a depression screening test. Those who screened positive for possible depression consumed an average of 8.4 servings of chocolate -- defined as 1 ounce of chocolate candy -- per month. That compared with 5.4 servings per month among people who were not depressed.
Those who scored highest on the mood tests, indicating probably major depression, consumed an average of 11.8 servings per month.
It's not clear how the two are linked, the authors wrote. It could be that depression stimulates chocolate cravings as a form of self-treatment. Chocolate prompts the release of certain chemicals in the brain, such as dopamine, that produce feelings of pleasure and reward.
Another theory is that chocolate consumption contributes to depression or that some physiological mechanism, such as stress, drives both depression and chocolate craving.
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