| Top Heart-Health Issues |
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The heart really is the heart of the body’s whole operation. Without it, everything else ceases to work. But when the heart works overtime, things can go wrong. And unfortunately, many Americans’ hearts are on overdrive.
“Cardiovascular disease (CVD) kills more people worldwide than any other disease,” said Stephen Moon, CEO, Provexis plc. “Indeed, experts estimate by the year 2020 nearly 40 percent of all deaths worldwide will be due to CVD, more than twice the percentage of deaths from cancer [according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine]. Governments, health professionals and health-oriented media have consistently pressed the message on the importance of cardiovascular health, leading to increased consumer awareness of the consequences of CVD.” He sees consumers being proactive and adding supplements and functional foods and beverages to support their heart. “The statistics support this view, with the U.S. heart-health market projected to exceed $1 billion by 2012 and $2 billion by 2015,” he added.
The heart-health market is a fortunate one: It doesn’t suffer from saturation due to bogus claims and promises. In fact, it’s a fairly “clean” market. “I definitely agree with the statement that the heart-health market doesn’t seem to be saturated with claims that other markets suffer,” said Dave Foreman, RPh, N.D. “I believe this is because heart health is a lot more ‘life threatening’ than weight loss and arthritis. Companies would be seriously compromising the customer’s health if they were to make crazy, undocumented claims about their products/ingredients.”
Why else is this a cleaner market? Marketing, and regulatory checks and balances. Heart health targets a very different demographic than say, weight management, which suffers from market saturation partly due to fads and over-the-top claims. Taking supplements for the heart isn’t done out of vanity, it stems from a need and a genuine desire to be healthy. “The weight loss/management market is saturated with fad products that do whatever is necessary to stand out from the crowd, and is targeted primarily toward young women,” said Jeremy Bartos, Ph.D., ingredient product manager, pTeroPure division of ChromaDex Inc. “The heart-health market targets a different demographic than weight management; older men and women not as easily drawn in to impulse buying of fad products, and are more likely to consult a physician or research products before committing to buy. Because of this, the heart-health market relies more on the science to sell products, as science and clinical data is what is needed to get a physician to recommend a product to their patients.”
