U.S. health system to be burdened by aging baby boomers

More aging boomers are suffering from health problems, putting a heavy burden on the U.S. health system, a new study available on Friday showed.

Aging baby boomers, who are being hospitalized for heart attacks now than people their age were a generation ago, may swamp cardiac care wards across the nation, according to the study by researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC).

Baby boomers are not in good shape, even when compared with their counterparts 10 or 20 years ago, warned the study that was presented Thursday to the ongoing American Heart Association conference in Palm Harbor, Florida.

"The first baby boomers will begin turning 65 in a year-and-a-half, making the aging of this group an important public health issue," said Hylan Shoob, lead author of the study.

The 80 million baby boomers born between 1946 and 1964 now constitute a third of the U.S. population, raising the specter of more disease and more costs for the health-care system.

Born into relative affluence and peace after World War II, "this baby boomer population represents a huge volume of the population," said Dr. Carl J. Lavie, medical director of cardiac rehabilitation at the Ochsner Heart and Vascular Institute in New Orleans.

"In addition, unlike their parents, this population has largely enjoyed the 'good life,' with a lot of surpluses that have allowed them to avoid high amounts of physical work in their workplaces and large quantities of good-tasting, high-caloric, high-fat, high-processed, sugary foods."

The combination, Lavie said, has led to more "diabesity" -- or obesity plus diabetes, both strong risk factors for heart disease.

"There is no question that the medical costs that will be required to treat these man-made diseases will place a major burden on our already troubled health-care systems."

"I can confidently predict that the risk (for heart disease and related conditions) is increasing," Lavie said. "There was a study in the past year that showed that younger people are now having heart attacks and this is directly related with premature obesity."