Heart Disease

According to the American Heart Association, it is estimated that over 80 million people in the United States suffer from some form of cardiovascular disease. This includes diseases of the heart, such as coronary artery disease (hardening of the arteries), congestive heart failure, congenital cardiovascular defects, as well as other diseases of the circulatory system such as high blood pressure and strokes.

About 5.5 million Americans are hospitalized each year complaining of chest pain. Most do not suffer a heart attack, but it is a very tricky proposition to separate out patients that have indigestion or a strained muscle from those who have something much, much more dangerous.

According to the March 2007 Issue of the Journal of Emergency Medical Services, Americans suffer 1.5 million heart attacks- 500,000 of which are recurrent. 500,000 Americans will die this year of a heart attack; almost 350,000 will be categorized as sudden cardiac death (SCD).

Over twenty percent of SCD cases involve people with no outward symptoms of serious heart disease. Experts estimate that 85% of these attacks could be prevented by sufficient early diagnosis.

This year, an estimated 500,000 Americans will suffer from recurrent heart attacks. There are over 350,000 cases of in the United States each year, and nearly half of all patients that die do so before reaching the hospital.

Not only is heart disease America’s number one killer, it is also a tremendous financial burden. The total direct and indirect cost of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and stroke in the United States for 2008 is an estimated $448.5 Billion. By comparison, in 2007, the estimated cost of all cancer related costs, both benign and malignant was only $219 billion.