Heart Disease Statistics: The Numbers
- In 2004, the total number of adults in the United States living with heart disease was 24.7 million. This represented 11.5 percent of the population.
- Based on the 2001 statistics for heart disease, 4.4 million people were hospitalized because of heart disease, with an average hospital stay of 4.6 days.
- Heart disease is the number one cause of death in the United States. Based on 2003 data, 685,089 people died from heart disease.
- Sixty-four million Americans (almost one-fourth of the population) have some form of cardiovascular disease (heart disease and stroke being the most common), which is responsible for more than 6 million hospitalizations each year.
Statistics on Heart Disease Risk Factors
Consider the following statistics:
- About 90 percent of middle-aged Americans will develop high blood pressure in their lifetime, and nearly 70 percent of those who have it now do not have it under control.
- Heart disease statistics from 2002 showed that more than 106 million people were told that they had total cholesterol levels that were above normal or high (200 mg/dL or higher).
- An average reduction of just 12 to 13 mmHg in systolic blood pressure over four years of follow-up is associated with a 21 percent reduction in coronary heart disease, a 37 percent reduction in stroke, a 25 percent reduction in total deaths from cardiovascular disease, and a 13 percent reduction in overall death rates.
- A 10 percent reduction in cholesterol levels can result in a 30 percent reduction in the incidence of heart attacks and strokes.
- American adults substantially lowered their blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, and other risk factors for heart disease during the 1980s. As a result, costs associated with coronary heart disease in the United States declined by an estimated 9 percent -- from about $240 billion in 1981 to about $220 billion in 1990.
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