Heart disease is a general term used to describe several diseases of the heart. The list includes heart attack, heart failure, valve problems, cardiac arrhythmias, angina pectoris, also known as chest pain, and other less common conditions such as rheumatic heart disease and endocarditis. Heart disease kills more Americans than the next four leading diseases combined. High blood pressure, diabetes, smoking, elevated blood cholesterol and obesity all contribute to heart disease.
Prevalence of Heart Disease
The direct and indirect costs associated with treating heart disease and other cardiovascular diseases like stroke and high blood pressure, exceed $475,000,000,000 in the U.S. alone. According to research published by the American Heart Association, Mississippi, Alabama and Oklahoma lead the country in the number of deaths attributed to cardiovascular disease, or CVD. Minnesota, Utah and Hawaii have the least. Compared to other countries, the U.S. makes the worst half of the list, with Russia, Bulgaria and Romania leading the way. The healthiest countries, as far as CVD is concerned, are Japan, followed by Switzerland and France.
Interesting Facts
The heart is a muscle that lies in the middle of the chest. The electrical system of the heart sustains about 72 beats per minute, or more than 100,000 beats per day. This organ is about the size of the fist and pushes blood through about 60,000 miles of blood vessels! For most individuals, heart disease is a gradual process, progressing over decades before any signs of disease occur.
A Heart in Distress
The most common form of cardiovascular disease is coronary heart disease, which includes heart attack and angina pectoris. The direct and indirect costs associated with heart attacks in America exceed $165 billion each year. This disease affects the coronary arteries that feed the heart. Most people with coronary heart disease experience a gradual narrowing of the coronary arteries, which reduces the flow of oxygen-rich blood to the heart. Frequently, the arteries can be significantly blocked before any symptoms appear. Angina pain is often caused from physical or emotional stress and can be resolved with immediate rest or administration of nitroglycerin medication. Heart attack, on the other hand, is a serious condition that needs immediate emergency care.
What Does a Heart Attack Look and Feel Like?
According to the American Heart Association, one heart attack occurs every 25 seconds. During a heart attack, blood supply is cut off to a section of the heart due to a clot, spasm or break in a coronary artery. When this happens, cardiac tissue begins to die. Common heart attack signals include chest pain, pressure and discomfort or heaviness that does not subside after two minutes of rest. The pain can also radiate to the shoulders, arms, neck, jaw or mid-back. Women may even experience an upper gastric pain versus traditional chest pain. Other signs and symptoms include difficulty breathing, sweating, nausea and pale or gray skin color. Another common symptom is denial because for up to half of affected individuals, this is the first sign of any type of heart problem. Survival is significantly increased if treatment begins within the hour, though most people wait as long as three hours before calling for help. If you witness someone having chest pain along with any combination of these symptoms, call 9-1-1 immediately. Waiting too long may result in permanent disability or death.
