CDC Resources for Diabetes and Heart Disease

Last updated 4 days ago. Our resources are updated regularly but please keep in mind that links, programs, policies, and contact information do change.

Every 33 seconds, someone in America dies from cardiovascular disease. Every 40 seconds, someone has a heart attack.

Meanwhile, 98 million Americans—more than one in three adults—have prediabetes, and most don’t even know it.

These aren’t just statistics. They represent your neighbors, coworkers, family members, and maybe you. Chronic diseases like diabetes and heart disease have become America’s silent epidemics, driving $4.5 trillion in annual healthcare costs while claiming millions of lives.

But here’s what the numbers don’t tell you: most of these conditions are preventable. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has developed a massive arsenal of resources, programs, and tools to help Americans understand, prevent, and manage these diseases. The problem isn’t lack of solutions—it’s knowing they exist and how to access them.

This guide cuts through the bureaucracy to show you exactly what the CDC offers and how to use it. Whether you’re worried about your risk, already managing a condition, or caring for someone who is, these resources can change the trajectory of your health.

Understanding Diabetes: More Than Just Blood Sugar

Diabetes affects how your body converts food into energy. When you eat, your body breaks food down into sugar (glucose) that enters your bloodstream. This rise in blood sugar signals your pancreas to release insulin—a hormone that acts like a key, allowing glucose to enter your body’s cells for energy.

In people with diabetes, this system breaks down. The body either doesn’t produce enough insulin or can’t use its own insulin effectively. Too much glucose stays in the bloodstream, and over time, this leads to serious complications including heart disease, kidney disease, and vision loss.

Three Types, Different Stories

Type 1 Diabetes: An autoimmune reaction where the body attacks and destroys insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. It often develops rapidly and is most commonly diagnosed in children and young adults, though it can appear at any age. People with Type 1 require daily insulin injections to survive. Currently, there’s no known way to prevent Type 1 diabetes. It accounts for 5-10% of all diabetes cases.

Type 2 Diabetes: The most common form, representing 90-95% of all cases. In Type 2, your body’s cells don’t respond normally to insulin—a condition called insulin resistance. Your pancreas initially compensates by producing more insulin, but eventually can’t keep up. Blood sugar levels rise, leading to the disease.

Type 2 typically develops over many years, and symptoms can be so gradual they go unnoticed. While it most often develops in people over 45, it’s increasingly diagnosed in children, teens, and young adults.

Gestational Diabetes: Develops during pregnancy in women who’ve never had diabetes. While it usually resolves after birth, it poses health risks to the infant and significantly increases the mother’s risk of developing Type 2 diabetes later. The baby is also more likely to have obesity during childhood and develop Type 2 diabetes as an adult.

The Prediabetes Warning

Before Type 2 diabetes comes prediabetes—a critical condition where blood sugar levels are higher than normal but not yet high enough for a diabetes diagnosis. Prediabetes is a serious warning sign that elevates risk for developing not only Type 2 diabetes but also heart disease and stroke.

An estimated 98 million American adults—more than one in three—have prediabetes. Alarmingly, more than 80% are unaware of their condition, missing a vital opportunity for prevention. This vast, undiagnosed population represents one of America’s biggest public health challenges.

The Numbers Tell a Stark Story

The statistics surrounding diabetes paint a picture of a widespread and costly epidemic. The CDC’s data collection, particularly through its National Diabetes Statistics Report and U.S. Diabetes Surveillance System, reveals the scope of the problem.

The burden isn’t distributed equally. Significant disparities exist, often linked to social determinants of health—the conditions in which people are born, live, work, and age. Factors like income, education level, and geographic location can limit access to healthy food, safe places for physical activity, and quality healthcare.

The millions of people with undiagnosed diabetes and prediabetes represent a silent crisis for the U.S. healthcare system. These individuals are on a trajectory toward more severe disease and costly complications, often without knowing their risk.

Are You at Risk? Take the Test

To combat widespread lack of awareness about prediabetes, the CDC leads the “Do I Have Prediabetes?” national awareness campaign in partnership with the American Medical Association and the Ad Council. The campaign’s central call to action is simple: visit DoIHavePrediabetes.org and take a one-minute risk test.

This user-friendly tool, available in English and Spanish, lets you quickly assess your risk for prediabetes and Type 2 diabetes based on key factors.

You’re at higher risk if you:

• Are overweight or have obesity
• Are 45 years of age or older
• Have a parent, brother, or sister with Type 2 diabetes
• Are physically active fewer than three times a week
• Have ever had gestational diabetes or given birth to a baby weighing more than 9 pounds
• Are African American, Hispanic/Latino, American Indian, Alaska Native, Pacific Islander, or Asian American
• Have non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

By encouraging self-assessment, the campaign serves as the first step in the prevention pipeline, guiding at-risk individuals toward diagnosis and proven prevention programs.

A Proven Path to Prevention

For individuals who discover they’re at high risk or have been diagnosed with prediabetes, the CDC offers a powerful solution: the National Diabetes Prevention Program (NDPP) lifestyle change program.

This isn’t just a set of recommendations—it’s a structured, year-long program proven to help participants make lasting behavioral changes. The results are striking: participation can cut the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes by 58%. For participants over 60, the results are even more dramatic, with a 71% reduction in risk.

How the Program Works

Over the course of a year, participants work with a trained Lifestyle Coach in group settings. The curriculum focuses on practical skills:

Making healthier food choices: Learning strategies for meal planning and portion control

Increasing physical activity: Working toward recommended guidelines

Losing modest weight: Typically 5-7% of body weight, which has significant health impact

Developing coping skills: Managing stress and overcoming common challenges to healthy lifestyle

The NDPP represents modern, effective public health strategy. Rather than a top-down federal program, the CDC acts as the central hub, providing evidence-based curriculum, setting quality standards through its Diabetes Prevention Recognition Program, and driving national awareness.

The actual program delivery is “franchised” to a diverse network of over 1,500 local organizations nationwide, including YMCAs, community centers, hospitals, and employers. This model efficiently translates rigorous scientific research into real-world community action.

The program is offered in various formats—in-person, online, and distance learning. The CDC leverages telehealth to expand reach into rural and underserved communities that often bear disproportionate chronic disease burdens.

Living Well with Diabetes

For the more than 38 million Americans already living with diabetes, the CDC provides extensive resources focused on effective self-management and preventing serious complications. A central principle: diabetes is a condition managed primarily by the individual, with crucial support from healthcare teams, family, and community.

Diabetes Self-Management Education and Support (DSMES)

DSMES is a collaborative process where people with diabetes gain the knowledge, skills, and confidence to manage their condition. Working with diabetes care and education specialists, individuals learn to navigate daily challenges, leading to improved health outcomes like lower A1C levels and better quality of life.

The CDC supports these efforts by providing a comprehensive DSMES Toolkit for healthcare providers and community organizations to establish and maintain high-quality DSMES services.

The CDC’s strategy includes both prevention and management. Management efforts include funding innovative programs like the “Food is Medicine” initiative, which increases access to nutritious food, and creative community-based projects that train barbers and stylists as trusted health advocates to promote DSMES participation in Black communities.

Your Diabetes Resource Hub

The CDC’s main diabetes portal serves as a comprehensive resource for daily life, including:

Healthy Eating: Guidance on meal planning, understanding food labels, counting carbohydrates, and diabetes-friendly recipes

Physical Activity: Tips on getting active safely and reaching and maintaining healthy weight

Blood Sugar Monitoring: Information on how and when to test blood sugar and what to do about high or low levels

Preventing Complications: Specific advice on protecting eyes, feet, and kidneys, plus managing sick days

Mental and Emotional Health: Resources and strategies for coping with chronic condition stress and building strong support systems

Heart Disease: America’s Leading Killer

Heart disease remains the leading cause of death in the United States, with stroke ranking fifth. The CDC’s Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention leads the national public health response, working to improve cardiovascular health for all while reducing disease burden and eliminating disparities.

Understanding Heart Disease

“Heart disease” is a broad umbrella referring to several conditions affecting the heart and blood vessels. The most common type in the U.S. is Coronary Artery Disease (CAD).

CAD occurs when plaque—a substance made of cholesterol, fats, and other materials—builds up inside coronary arteries, the vessels supplying oxygen-rich blood to heart muscle. This process, called atherosclerosis, causes arteries to narrow and harden, restricting blood flow. Severely reduced or blocked blood flow can cause heart attacks.

Often, heart disease is “silent,” producing no symptoms until someone experiences a life-threatening event like heart attack, heart failure, or irregular heartbeat. Recognizing warning signs is critical for seeking immediate care and improving outcomes.

Warning Signs to Know

Heart attack warning signs include:

• Chest pain or discomfort (pressure, squeezing, fullness, or pain)
• Pain or discomfort in other upper body areas (arms, back, neck, jaw, or stomach)
• Shortness of breath (with or without chest discomfort)
• Other signs like cold sweats, nausea, or lightheadedness

Stroke warning signs can be remembered with F.A.S.T.:

• Face Drooping: Does one side of the face droop or feel numb?
• Arm Weakness: Is one arm weak or numb?
• Speech Difficulty: Is speech slurred, or is the person unable to speak or hard to understand?
• Time to call 911: If someone shows any symptoms, even if they go away, call 911 immediately

The Devastating Numbers

The statistics on heart disease and stroke underscore their devastating impact on American lives and the economy.

Like diabetes, heart disease burden isn’t shared equally. Significant racial and ethnic disparities persist. Heart disease death rates are highest among non-Hispanic Black individuals. The risk of having a first stroke is nearly twice as high for non-Hispanic Black adults as for White adults.

Your Heart Disease Risk Factors

The CDC educates Americans about heart disease risk factors, as many can be controlled or managed. About half of all Americans (47%) have at least one of three key risk factors.

The “Big Three” Key Risk Factors

High Blood Pressure (Hypertension): Often symptomless, it forces the heart to work harder and damages artery walls over time.

High Blood Cholesterol: Excess LDL (“bad”) cholesterol contributes directly to plaque formation in arteries.

Smoking: Damages heart and blood vessels, increases blood pressure, and reduces blood oxygen.

Additional Risk Factors

Several other medical conditions and lifestyle choices significantly increase heart disease risk:

• Diabetes: A major risk factor creating dangerous synergy that dramatically accelerates cardiovascular damage
• Overweight and obesity: Puts additional stress on the heart and links to other risk factors
• Unhealthy diet: High in saturated fats, trans fats, cholesterol, and sodium
• Physical inactivity: Major contributor to obesity and other risk factors
• Excessive alcohol use: Can raise blood pressure and triglyceride levels

Million Hearts®: A National Mission

To tackle heart disease’s massive scale, the CDC spearheads large-scale national initiatives coordinating efforts across public and private sectors.

The flagship initiative is Million Hearts®, co-led by the CDC and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

The Ambitious Goal

Prevent 1 million heart attacks, strokes, and other cardiovascular events within five years.

The Core Strategy

Million Hearts® focuses on promoting small, evidence-based changes with huge impact. Its strategy builds around improving the “ABCS” of cardiovascular health:

• A for Aspirin use when appropriate
• B for Blood pressure control
• C for Cholesterol management
• S for Smoking cessation

The initiative also prioritizes increasing cardiac rehabilitation participation for those who’ve had cardiac events and addressing upstream factors like air pollution.

Health Equity Focus

The Million Hearts® 2027 plan strongly emphasizes health equity, targeting interventions to populations facing greatest risk and most significant care barriers, including those affected by adverse social determinants of health.

The initiative provides extensive resources, including action guides and change packages for clinicians, hypertension data, and patient education materials.

Targeted Programs for At-Risk Populations

The CDC’s cardiovascular health strategy isn’t one-size-fits-all. It demonstrates sophisticated understanding that effective public health requires targeted programs meeting unique needs of high-risk populations.

WISEWOMAN Program

WISEWOMAN (Well-Integrated Screening and Evaluation for WOMen Across the Nation) is a clever model of integrated care recognizing that low-income, uninsured, and underinsured women aged 35-64 are particularly vulnerable.

Target audience and services: The program provides these women free or low-cost screenings for key cardiovascular risk factors, including high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes. It then connects them to lifestyle programs and community resources for adopting healthier behaviors.

Integrated model: WISEWOMAN ingeniously “piggybacks” on existing National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program infrastructure. This allows the CDC to reach its target demographic without building new systems, maximizing public health resource use.

Proven impact: Between 2008 and 2022, WISEWOMAN provided over 365,000 screenings and delivered nearly 502,000 healthy behavior support services to at-risk women.

Paul Coverdell National Acute Stroke Program

The Paul Coverdell program addresses the fact that stroke outcomes depend heavily on speed and quality of complex medical service chains.

Systems-level mission: The program improves care quality across the entire stroke continuum, from initial 911 calls and EMS response through emergency department care and hospitalization to post-stroke rehabilitation and recovery.

How it works: The CDC funds state health departments to establish coordinated “stroke systems of care.” These systems bring together hospitals, EMS agencies, and rehabilitation facilities to collect and analyze stroke care data, identify quality gaps, and implement evidence-based improvements.

Life-saving impact: The program has improved care quality for over 1.1 million stroke patients in more than 800 hospitals. Its process improvement focus has yielded dramatic results: the percentage of eligible stroke patients in Coverdell hospitals who received life-saving, clot-busting drug tPA in timely manner more than doubled, from 29% in 2008 to 71% in 2021.

The Dangerous Connection: Diabetes and Heart Disease

Diabetes and heart disease aren’t separate conditions—they’re deeply and dangerously intertwined. Having diabetes significantly increases heart disease risk, and heart disease is the leading cause of death for people with diabetes.

How Diabetes Damages Your Heart

People with diabetes are twice as likely to have heart disease or stroke as people without diabetes, with risk increasing the longer someone has the condition. The primary mechanism is high blood sugar. Over time, elevated glucose levels can injure blood vessel inner walls, including coronary arteries feeding the heart, and damage nerves controlling heart function.

This initial damage creates a “perfect storm” for cardiovascular disease, as diabetes often brings a “triple threat” of other major risk factors:

High Blood Pressure: Most people with diabetes also have high blood pressure. The combination is particularly destructive, as increased blood flow force further damages already-weakened artery walls.

Unhealthy Cholesterol and Triglycerides: Diabetes tends to negatively affect blood lipids. It often lowers HDL (“good”) cholesterol while raising LDL (“bad”) cholesterol and triglycerides. This lipid profile promotes rapid plaque buildup in damaged arteries.

Heart Failure: Diabetes also increases heart failure risk, a serious condition where heart muscle weakens and cannot pump blood efficiently. This can lead to fluid buildup in lungs and legs and tends to worsen over time.

Shared Solutions: A Unified Prevention Approach

The good news is that prevention pathways for Type 2 diabetes and heart disease are largely the same. The same lifestyle behaviors that increase risk for one condition also increase risk for the other. A single, unified healthy living strategy offers powerful “two-for-one” benefits, protecting both metabolic and cardiovascular systems simultaneously.

Key overlapping risk factors that can be modified include:

• Overweight and obesity
• Physical inactivity
• Unhealthy diet high in processed foods, saturated fats, and sodium
• Smoking (especially dangerous as it doubles heart disease risk in people with diabetes)

The evidence-based strategies promoted by the CDC’s National Diabetes Prevention Program—achieving healthy weight, engaging in regular physical activity, and adopting nutritious eating plans—are also cornerstone recommendations for preventing heart disease.

Master Your ABCs: A Practical Health Framework

The CDC has developed a simple, memorable, and highly effective framework to help people with diabetes, in partnership with healthcare providers, manage key factors influencing both diabetes control and cardiovascular risk. This framework is managing your “ABCs.”

This approach brilliantly transforms complex clinical targets into an easy-to-remember acronym, empowering patients to become active managers of their own health metrics rather than passive recipients of medical advice.

The ABCs Stand For:

A for A1C: The A1C test measures average blood sugar level over the previous two to three months. It’s the standard tool for assessing long-term glucose control. Work with your doctor to establish a personal A1C target and get tested regularly to ensure you’re meeting your goal.

B for Blood Pressure: Because of the strong link between diabetes and hypertension, regular blood pressure monitoring is essential. The goal for many people with diabetes is keeping blood pressure below 140/90 mm Hg, or a lower target set by their doctor.

C for Cholesterol: Managing blood cholesterol levels is critical for preventing plaque buildup in arteries. This involves monitoring LDL (“bad”) cholesterol, HDL (“good”) cholesterol, and triglycerides. For many people with diabetes, doctors may prescribe statin medications.

Statins are highly effective at lowering LDL cholesterol and have been proven to significantly reduce heart attack and stroke risk. While some studies show statins may slightly increase blood sugar levels, for most people with diabetes, the powerful cardiovascular benefits far outweigh this risk.

s for stop smoking: Quitting smoking is one of the most powerful actions individuals can take to lower their risk for heart attack, stroke, and other diabetes-related complications.

Your Data Hub: Interactive Tools for Local Health

The CDC provides powerful online tools allowing users to explore health data at state and local levels. This helps communities understand their specific health challenges and target interventions more effectively.

Key Interactive Resources

U.S. Diabetes Surveillance System: This interactive web application provides diabetes data, risk factors, and complications at national, state, and county levels. Users can create customized maps and charts to visualize diabetes burden in their own communities.

Interactive Atlas of Heart Disease and Stroke: This online mapping tool provides extensive data on heart disease and stroke mortality, hospitalizations, and risk factors, down to county level. It’s vital for understanding geographic disparities in cardiovascular health.

PLACES: Local Data for Better Health: This platform provides model-based, small-area estimates for dozens of chronic disease-related health measures. It offers data for counties, cities, census tracts, and even ZIP codes, allowing highly localized health planning.

Your CDC Resource Quick Reference

This table consolidates key programs and resources into a single, easy-to-use guide with direct links to help you take the next step in managing your health.

Get More Information

For general questions about chronic diseases, prevention, or other health topics, contact CDC-INFO, a service providing reliable health information 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Call: 800-CDC-INFO (800-232-4636) Website: cdc.gov/cdc-info/index.html

Take Action Today

Chronic diseases like diabetes and heart disease have become America’s silent epidemics, but they don’t have to be your destiny. The CDC has built a comprehensive system of prevention programs, management resources, and data tools to help you take control of your health.

Whether you’re taking your first prediabetes risk assessment, looking for a local prevention program, managing an existing condition, or caring for someone who is, these resources can change your health trajectory.

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