Saturday, January 21, 2012

New Statistics of Heart Disease in the United States

Something new and different!

Facts that may interest you from the American Heart Association "Executive Summary:  Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics - 2012 Update."  (After all, I am a pediatric cardiologist!)

1.  Based on 2008 data, more than 2200 Americans die of cardiovascular disease every day - an average of 1 death every 39 seconds.  Although cardiovascular disease accounts for 1 out of every 3 deaths in the U.S., the actual rate of death decreased by 31% from 1998 to 2008.

2.  There are about 76,400,000 individuals in the U.S. with hypertension.

3.  Cigarette use (despite 40 years of attempts to eliminate):
          a.  21% of men 18 or older continue to smoke.
          b.  18% of women 18 or older continue to smoke.
          c.   19.5% of students in grades 9-12 report "cigarette use."

4.  33,600,000 American adults over 20 years of age have a total serum cholesterol of 240 mg/dl or greater.

5.  The prevalence of overweight and obesity in the U.S. in adults 20 years old or greater is 67%.

6.  Among American children ages 2-19, the prevalence of overweight and obesity is 49%.

7.  The proportion of youth (18 years and younger) who report engaging in no regular physical activity is high and the proportion increases with age.  Among children in grades 9-12, 30% of girls and 17% of boys reported no significant physical activity in the previous 7 days.

8.  33% of adults report engaging in no aerobic leisure-time physical activity.

9.  Total direct and indirect cost of cardiovascular disease (including stroke) in the U.S. was $298 billion (2008).    By comparison, the cost of all cancer (malignant and benign) treatment in 2008 was $228 billion.


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