Deaths

• Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States.
  
  According to the CDC, 652,091 people died from heart disease in 2005, which accounted for 27.1 percent of all U.S. deaths for the year. Sixty seven percent of the time, individuals who have a cardiac death, die before they get to the emergency room or before emergency services reach them in the United States. In 2005, 7.6 million people died of heart disease worldwide.
  
  

Risk Factors

• Physical inactivity can lead to heart disease.
  
  According to the American Heart Association, the six major risk factors for heart disease include smoking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, obesity, and physical inactivity.
  
  

Cost

• Heart disease costs America billions of dollars each year.
  
  In 2009, heart disease will cost the United States a projected total cost of over $304.6 billion, which includes medications, loss of productivity, and services.
  
  

Alcohol and Heart Disease

• Heavy alcohol drinkers are at a greater risk for heart disease.
  
  According to WomensHeart.org, moderate alcohol consumption can reduce LDL (good) cholesterol, which helps to reduce the risk of heart disease. Drinking moderate amounts of alcohol also prevents accumulation of plaque in arteries. However, having more than three drinks a day can have a toxic effect on the heart and can lead to high blood pressure, increasing the risk of heart disease.
  
  

Smoking and Heart Disease

• Smoking increases the risk of heart disease significantly.
  
  According to the American Heart Association, smoking is one of the six major risk factors for coronary heart disease. Smoking cigarettes can lead to atherosclerosis, which is fat building up in arteries. According to NetWellness.org, a service of the University of Cincinnati, The Ohio State University, and Case Western Reserve University, smokers have two to four times the risk of getting heart disease as nonsmokers.
  
  

Symptoms

• Speak to your doctor about the symptoms of heart disease.
  
  According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, the symptoms of heart disease include shortness of breath, weight gain, fluid retention, coughing, decreased muscle mass, decreased appetite, abdominal pain, abnormal heart rhythms, depression, and sleep apnea.
  
  

Americans With Heart Disease

• Twenty percent of Americans have some form of heart disease.
  
  According to Providence Health Services, about 60.8 million Americans currently have at least one type of heart disease. About one in five people have at least one form of cardiovascular disease.