Special to The North Jefferson News



According to the American Heart Association (AHA), cardiovascular diseases are the No. 1 killer in the United States.

In fact, in a report released in 2008, the AHA estimated that, in 2005 (the most recent year where reliable statistics were available), nearly 81 million people in the United States had one or more forms of cardiovascular disease.

With the U.S. population estimated to be slightly more than 300 million, that means more than 25 percent of the country has some form of cardiovascular disease. The most common type of cardiovascular disease for Americans was high blood pressure, which afflicts more than 70 million people throughout the country.

The AHA report also notes that more than 860,000 Americans died from cardiovascular disease in 2004 (the last year where concrete mortality rates were available).

While it’s common to assume that cardiovascular disease is a concern strictly for the elderly, that’s not the case at all. In fact, 148,000 Americans killed by cardiovascular disease in 2004 were under the age of 65, highlighting the very real notion that cardiovascular disease does not discriminate based on age, race or gender.

Perhaps most telling about the prevalence of cardiovascular disease is its mortality rate when compared to other ailments. For example, the more than 800,000 lives cardiovascular disease claimed in 2004 was more than the total number of lives lost to cancer, accidents and HIV (AIDS) combined.



— Metro News Service