All statistics are from The Heart Foundation and can be seen on their website here.
Heart Disease: Scope and Impact
- Heart disease is the number one cause of death for both men and women in the United States, claiming approximately 1 million lives annually.
- Every 33 seconds someone in the United States dies from cardiovascular disease which is roughly the equivalent of a September 11th-like tragedy repeating itself every 24 hours, 365 days a year.
- More die of heart disease than of AIDS and all cancers combined.
- By 2020, heart disease will be the leading cause of death throughout the world.
- This year more than 920,000 Americans will have a heart attack; nearly half of them will occur without prior symptoms or warning signs.
- 250,000 Americans die annually of Sudden Cardiac Death –680 every day of the year.
- One-half of the victims of Sudden Cardiac Death are under the age of 65.
- An estimated 80 million Americans have one or more types of heart disease.
- About 8.9 million Americans have chest pain (angina) caused by reduced blood flow to the heart muscle which occurs when the coronary arteries become blocked with a build-up of plaque.
- Currently about 7.9 million Americans are alive who have had a heart attack.
- In 2008, the total cost of cardiovascular disease (coronary heart disease, hypertensive disease, heart failure and stroke) in the U.S. was estimated at $448.5 billion. (This includes direct costs such as costs of doctors, hospital services, medications, etc., and indirect costs such as lost productivity.) In comparison, the estimated economic cost of cancer in 2007 was $219 billion.
This month’s civil topic is heart attacks as a missed diagnosis in medical malpractice cases. Topics covered are:
- What is a heart attack? (5/5/14)
- Statistics on heart attacks (5/12/14)
- Physician responsibility and risk factors (5/19/14)
- Legal implications (5/26/14)
Note: Links won’t work until the date posted.
