Despite many advances in heart disease, it continues to be a large public health threat in the United States.
More than 70 million Americans have heart disease. One American dies from heart disease every 34 seconds. Nearly half of the population will suffer a heart attack or stroke in his or her lifetime. As the American population ages, the number of people with heart disease will likely increase.
But, there is good news in all of these numbers. The way doctors treat heart disease is starting to change. For example, we now know that heart disease most often occurs because of a number of risk factors. Doctors are starting to look at the cardiovascular system as a whole, in an effort to prevent heart disease, rather than treating one risk factor at a time.
And patients can play a big role, too. You have to ask the right questions, provide the correct information and work with your health care professional to make sure that you understand what the information means to you personally.
Think of risk factors as pieces of a puzzle. When put together, the pieces can help show you your chance of suffering a heart attack or stroke in the future. Each...