National Heart Month

Did You Know ?

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the United States; one in every three deaths is from heart disease and stroke, equal to 2,200 deaths per day.

CDC Features – Heart Month.

From the CDC Website:

February is American Heart Month, and unfortunately, most of us know someone who has had heart disease or stroke. Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the United States; one in every three deaths is from heart disease and stroke, equal to 2,200 deaths per day.    

And from the American Heart Association Websites Statistical Update:

  • Rates of death attributable to cardiovascular disease (CVD) have declined, yet the burden of disease remains high. Based on 2008 data:
    • The overall rate of death attributable to CVD was 244.8 per 100,000.
    • More than 2200 Americans die of CVD each day, an average of 1 death every 39 seconds.
    • Stroke accounted for ≈1 of every 18 deaths in the United States.
  • Prevalence and control of traditional risk factors remains an issue for many Americans:
    • 33.5% of US adults have hypertension. That’s 76.4 million adults.
    • An estimated 33.6 million adults have total serum cholesterol levels ≥240 mg/dL.
    • An estimated 18.3 million Americans had diagnosed diabetes mellitus, representing 8.0% of the adult population.
  • Expanded data coverage of the obesity epidemic:
    • The estimated prevalence of overweight and obesity in US adults is 149.3 million.
    • Among children (2 to 19 years of age), 23.6 million are overweight or obese and 12.6 million are obese.
  • The 2012 Statistical Update includes new chapters providing critical data about cardiovascular quality of care, procedure utilization, and costs and covering various disorders of heart rhythm.