Overall deaths and the death rates from heart disease and stroke rose sharply during the pandemic, setting back progress against two of the nation’s leading killers, according to a report published in JAMA Network Open in March. Many people missed visits to doctors or avoided hospitals early in the pandemic. Some later died at home, or reached the hospital too late. Covid-19 infection also increases the risk for stroke and heart attack, studies suggest.

People also have been under more stress in the past few years or haven’t been as active as before. Some gained weight or struggled to manage chronic conditions, said Donald Lloyd-Jones, a former president of the American Heart Association…

Drug-overdose deaths, rising before the pandemic, jumped to a record of more than 107,000 in 2021, according to preliminary data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The potent synthetic opioid fentanyl is driving the crisis, officials have said.

The age-adjusted rate of overdoses in the U.S. also increased from about 22 deaths per 100,000 people in 2019 to 28 per 100,000 in 2020, the agency said. Disparities in access to treatment are driving up overdose rates among Black and Native American people, data show, as the pandemic has exacerbated inequities in healthcare outcomes.