Cardiovascular disease (CVD), including heart disease and stroke, remains as the foremost cause of death in the United States despite progress in prevention, detection, and treatment. CVD is a killer of people in the prime of life, with more than half of all deaths occurring among women.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one-third of those suffering heart attacks do not survive, with about 340,000 of them dying in the emergency room. Even more troubling worrying, another 250,000 people with heart attacks will succumb before they ever reach the hospital. Most of these are sudden deaths caused by cardiac arrest. CVD includes dysfunctional conditions of the heart, arteries, and veins that supply oxygen to vital life-sustaining areas of the body like the brain, the heart itself, and other vital organs. A lack of oxygen causes the tissue or organ to die.
There are several risk factors for heart disease; some are controllable through changes in diet, exercise, and behavior.
Other risk factors are uncontrollable. These include: male sex, old age, family history of heart disease, post menopausal women, and race (African or Latin descent...