Types of Heart Disease
Diseases of the heart and circulatory system are called cardiovascular disease or CVD. CVD comes in two main forms:
1. Heart disease (CHD), and
2. Stroke.
Statistics Of Heart Disease
USA
CVD is the No 1 cause of death in America. Up to 1 million Americans will die of CVD in 2002. According to statistics released by the American Heart Association (AHA):
- At least 58,800,000 million Americans (i.e. 1 person in 4) suffer from some form of heart disease.
- 50 million suffer from high blood pressure
- 12 million suffer from coronary heart disease
- 6.2 million suffer from angina pectoris
- 7 million suffer from heart attack
- 4.4 million suffer from stroke
- 1.8 million suffer from rheumatic heart disease/fever
- 1 million suffer from congenital cardiovascular defects
- 4.6 million suffer from congestive heart failure
More American heart facts
- Of the 50 million Americans who have high blood pressure (the leading contributor to heart disease) 35 percent don’t know they have it. High blood pressure is easily detectable and usually controllable.
- Almost 1 out of every 2.4 deaths in the USA result from CVD.
- Since 1900, CVD has been the leading cause of death in every year but one – 1918.
- About every 29 seconds an American will suffer a coronary event.
- About every 60 seconds, someone dies from one.
- At least 250,000 people die of heart attacks each year before they reach a hospital.
- Half of all heart attack victims wait more than two hours before getting help.
- CVD is the cause of more deaths than the next 7 causes of death put together.
- It is a myth that heart disease is a man’s disease. In fact, cardiovascular diseases are the number one killer of women (and men). These diseases currently claim the lives of more than a half a million females every year – more than the next 16 causes of death put together.
- In 57 percent of men and 64 percent of women who died suddenly from CVD, there were no previous symptoms of the disease.
- The cost of CVD in 1999 is estimated at $286.5 billion – an increase of about $12 billion from last year.
- Stroke killed 159,942 people in 1996.
- On average, someone in the US suffers a stroke every 53 seconds.
- On average, someone dies from stroke every 3 minutes 20 seconds.
Coronary Heart Disease Statistics
Europe & EU
CVD kills 4 million Europeans each year. It’s the No 1 cause of death.
- It causes 49% of all European deaths: 55% deaths (women); 43% (men).
- About half of all deaths from CVD are from heart disease and nearly a third are from stroke.
- Over one in five women (22%) and men (21%) die from the disease.
- CVD kills 1.5 million EU citizens each year. It’s the No 1 cause of death in the EU.
- It causes 42% of all deaths in the EU: 46% of deaths (women) and 38% deaths (men).
- Between a third and a half of deaths from CVD are from heart disease, and 25% from stroke.
- CVD is the main cause of death for women in all 15 countries of the EU and it is the main cause of death for men in all these countries except France.
Deaths before the age of 75
CVD is the main cause of deaths before the age of 75 in Europe: accounting for nearly 2 million deaths each year.
CVD is the second main cause of deaths before the age of 75 in the EU: accounting for over 460,000 deaths. CVD causes 31% of deaths; cancer causes 36% of deaths.
Deaths before the age of 65
CVD is the main cause of deaths before the age of 65 in Europe: accounting for over 800,000 deaths each year.
CVD is the second main cause of deaths before the age of 65 in the EU: accounting for over 170,000 deaths. CVD causes 22% of deaths; but cancer causes 35% of deaths.
CVD is the main cause of deaths before the age of 65 for men in six EU countries – Austria, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Sweden and the UK. For women it is not the main cause of deaths before the age of 65 for any country in the EU.
