its 13 numbers we should know

     A long life free of heart disease does not come just from controlling the standard measures like blood pressure and cholesterol. . Sure, keeping tabs on these indicators is essential to gauging your heart's health, but a few other numbers-some surprising-can be meaningful as well.
  It's awareness worth having. The American Heart  Association noted in its annual review for 2010 that while the death rate due to cardiovascular disease in the United States fell between 1996 and 2006, the burden of the disease is still high. More than 1 in 3 deaths was related to heart disease in 2006.
U.S. News consulted with cardiology experts to round up the target numbers you should strive for to keep your ticker in good working condition over the long haul.

1. Alcohol intake

         Those fond of tipple may be dismayed, but the science on alcohol as an agent to promote heart health is just not definitive. "If you have heart disease, alcohol plays no role in your medicine cabinet; if [you do] not, alcohol is not the right way to reduce your risk," says Jonathan Whiteson, director of the Cardiovascular Rehabilitation Program at New York University Langone Medical Center. Some research has suggested that drinking red wine may increase one's HDL, or "good" cholesterol, but Whiteson notes that the boost is minimal. "Exercise [offers] a better increase in HDL," he says.
While he's not against a drink in a social setting, it's certainly not something folks-especially those with heart disease—should engage in with the idea that it will offer a heart benefit, says Whiteson. In fact, medications' effectiveness can be either hampered or heightened by alcohol, sometimes to a dangerous extent. (Common herbal supplements can interact with heart drugs, too). And drinking too much can lead to high blood pressure or increased blood levels of triglycerides, a type of fat.

Bottom line: The American Heart Association suggests that otherwise healthy individuals who drink should do so in moderation. That is defined as one to two drinks per day for men and one drink per day for women. And be careful with that pour: The AHA defines a drink as one 12-ounce beer, a 4 ounce glass of wine, 1.5 ounce of 80-proof spirits, or 1 ounce of 100-proof spirits.

2. Salt intake

Some experts say that the pervasive use of sodium in the America diet is wreaking havoc on our cardiovascular systems. "Sodium causes retention of fluid within the circulation, and if you're sodium-sensitive, it expands your blood volume and can contribute to high blood pressure, stroke, and other heart disease," explains Clyde Yancy, medical director of the Baylor Heart and Vascular Institute at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas and spokesman for the American Heart Association.
A report in the New England Journal of Medicine suggested that if Americans reduced daily salt intake by 3 grams, we could significantly lower the annual number of new cases of coronary heart disease (by between 60,000 and 120,000), stroke (by 32,000 to 66,000), heart attack (by 54,000 to 99,000), and even the number of deaths from any cause (by 44,000 to 92,000). The paper's authors noted previous research that showed the average American man consumes 10.4 grams of salt daily, while the average American woman gets 7.3 grams.
Bottom line: The AHA recommends Americans limit salt intake to 1.5 grams daily. Be wary: Sodium creeps in via unexpected sources, and it's not so much the salt shaker on our table that's to blame. Research suggests we get as much as 80 percent of our daily salt intake from processed foods.

3. Sugar intake

   It's not just the savory flavors that'll get you; sweets, too, can ultimately become a cause for concern, says the American Heart Association. Like salt, sugar creeps into the processed foods that make up much of the American diet, and sweetened beverages—soda, juices, and sports drinks—are especially loaded with the stuff. Here's some disturbing math for you: A 12-ounce can of soda has about 8 teaspoons (or 33 grams) of added sugars, totaling about 130 calories. (A gram of sugar translates into 4 calories.)
A can of Coke or Pepsi, then, basically takes you to the AHA's new upper limit on the recommended amount of added sugar Americans should ingest on a daily basis. The association's primary concern is the number of excess calories that added sugars sneak into our diets and pile onto our waistlines, which can contribute to metabolic changes that increase the chances of developing a host of diseases.

Bottom line: According to the AHA, women should get no more than 100 calories per day of added sugars and men should stop at 150 calories per day.

4. Resting heart rate

     How hard does your heart have to work—and how fast does it have to pump—to get oxygen-rich blood throughout your body? A lower number suggests your cardiovascular system is more efficient at doing this. Thus, a highly trained athlete can have a resting heart rate in the 40s, says Whiteson.
And while the research is still emerging on what one's resting heart rate predicts about heart disease risk, a picture is beginning to take shape. "There is certain evidence to support [the idea that] a higher resting heart rate is associated with heart disease," especially ischemic heart disease, he says, which involves reduced blood flow (and oxygen) getting to heart arteries and the heart muscle. This effect seems to be more pronounced in women than in men, but a study in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health suggested that in women up to the age of 70, every 10-beats-per-minute increase in resting heart rate boosted the risk of dying from ischemic heart disease by 18 percent. In men, the risk was increased by 10 percent for every extra 10 beats per minute, and age didn't have an impact. The study also found that women who got high levels of physical activity were able to reduce their risk of death considerably, compared with those who did little or no activity. The same effect was not found in men, but the researchers suggest the results may have been skewed because men tend to overestimate how much exercise they get.

Bottom line: A normal resting heart rate is between 60 and 100 beats per minute. Check yours by finding your wrist's pulse, counting the beats in a 15-second period, then multiplying by four.

5. Hours of sleep per night

    An overcaffeinated America seems to perpetually crave more shut-eye. And evidence is cropping up to suggest that a poor night's sleep is not only felt the next day but could have implications for one's heart over the long term. It is well established that sleep apnea, which results in numerous interruptions to breathing while asleep, is associated with stroke and coronary artery disease.
The reason is not clear, says Whiteson, but it's been hypothesized that people with disrupted sleep breathing have higher blood pressure overall because they don't get the restorative sleep that normally allows blood pressure to go down and gives the cardiovascular system a break during slumber. And a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed that middle-aged people who got five hours of shut-eye or less a night had a greater risk of developing coronary artery disease than those who got eight hours. The clue was the beginnings of calcium buildup in their arteries, found by CT scanning long before the disease process would normally be picked up.

Bottom line: Get eight hours of sleep per night. Making it happen isn't easy, we know.

6. Exercise

     You've heard it a thousand times over, and the message stays the same: Regular, heart-thumping exercise offers a multitude of health benefits, particularly for cardiovascular fitness. Perhaps clinicians (and health writers) keep bashing us over the head with that fact because of the eye-popping number of American adults who reported getting zero vigorous activity in a 2008 Centers of Disease Control and Prevention survey: 59 percent.

Bottom line: For a clean bill of health, the major health associations (including the AHA and the American College of Sports Medicine) suggest a minimum of 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity each week—say, brisk walking that boosts your heart rate. This translates into 30 minutes of exercise on five days of the week. Twice-weekly strength training of eight to 10 exercises, up to 12 reps each, is also on their to-do list. Whiteson at NYU Langone Medical Center suggests that those who don't have heart disease should bump that recommendation up to 60 minutes a day, five days a week of vigorous activity, where you're breathing pretty heavily and sweating. But he offers a concession: "You can break it up" into, say, three 20-minute sessions per day, since "the effect of aerobic exercise is cumulative." He also thinks those without heart disease should do strength training thrice weekly. Individuals with heart disease should always discuss a new exercise regimen with a doctor first, he says.

7. Cigarettes

       A 2009 study of Norwegians found that heavy smokers—those who puff at least 20 cigarettes per day—were 2.5 times more likely to die over a 30-year period than nonsmokers. But the cardiovascular risks associated with smoking aren't just seen in chain smokers.
The more nuanced message that doesn't always get across is the risk that the occasional smoker is exposed to. Even 10 minutes of secondhand smoke exposure may affect cardiovascular function. Just because you might not smoke a pack a day or even a week doesn't mean you're in the clear. "There is no safe level of exposure" to tobacco smoke, says Yancy.

Bottom line To protect against heart disease (not to mention cancer, stroke, and reproductive problems), the goal is to smoke exactly zero cigarettes.

8. Blood sugar

     Over time, high blood sugar levels associated with diabetes can damage nerves and blood vessels. This can spur the buildup of fat on blood vessel walls, which can impede blood flow and promote atherosclerosis. Having diabetes increases one's risk of cardiovascular disease considerably. Three quarters of those with diabetes die of heart or blood vessel disease.
Your body's ability to use glucose (blood sugar) properly can be tested by getting a fasting blood glucose test, which is a snapshot of your blood sugar at the time, or by getting a hemoglobin A1C test, which measures overall blood glucose over the previous three months. Both can be insightful. "There is data to suggest that there is a significant decrease in the risk of heart and vascular disease with every 1 percent reduction in hemoglobin A1C," says Whiteson.


Bottom line: The more controlled, the better. The normal range for a fasting blood glucose test is typically less than 100 milligrams per deciliter; prediabetes is indicated by a level between 100 and 125 mg/dL and diabetes by a reading of 126 mg/dL or above. A normal hemoglobin A1C level is below 6 percent, and those with diabetes should aim to keep it under 7 percent.

9. C-reactive protein

      Inflammation is a process our body uses to fight off an assault, like a cold or injury, in order to heal. But over the long term, chronic inflammation plays a detrimental role to health because the nasty byproducts—inflammatory molecules like cytokines—are believed to be part of several disease processes, including atherosclerosis, obesity, and Alzheimer's disease. In the realm of heart disease, much ado has been made of c-reactive protein, a marker for one's level of inflammation that can be picked up through a blood test called hs-CRP, for high-sensitivity c-reactive protein.
Who should get the test, and what are doctors to do with the results? Those are matters of considerable debate. "We can't treat high [c-reactive protein]," says Whiteson. It's an indicator of potential heart trouble, but medicine doesn't have the tools, via medications or procedures, to bring an elevated c-reactive protein down to normal. It is possible, however, to directly treat other critical risk factors like high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Doing so can bring down the risk of future cardiac events and death. A landmark study from late 2008 found that subjects who did not have heart disease and had normal cholesterol and who took statins had a lower risk of heart attack and stroke and also had fewer angioplasties and bypass surgeries over the course of the study, compared with the group who took a placebo. But too many questions remain about the study to make a blanket statement that folks should be taking statins more liberally.

Bottom line: According to the American Heart Association, a hs-CRP measure of 1 mg/L means you are at low risk of developing cardiovascular disease, a measure between 1 and 3 mg/L means you are at average risk, and levels above 3 mg/L means your risk is high. Getting the test may be helpful, says Yancy, if you are at intermediate risk for heart disease based on other risk factors and your doctors would like another data point to determine treatment. But "there is no need to check CRP if a person already has high risk or truly is in the healthy bracket," he says.

10. Waist circumference

      While not a direct measure of heart disease, a high waist circumference tracks with increased risk for high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes—all of which have a direct impact on heart health. And the bigger the belly, the heavier one tends to be. Obesity, of course, is a well-known risk factor for a range of diseases, including heart disease.
Importantly, a higher waist circumference indicates distribution of fat around the abdomen and packing fat around vital organs, which research has indicated is more dangerous than carrying weight in the thighs or buttocks. Be sure you're measuring properly. The correct waist circumference measurement is taken by wrapping a measuring tape around the natural waist at the belly button, not around the hips.

Bottom line: Men should have a waist circumference of less than 40 inches. The figure for women is less than 35 inches.

11. Body mass index

       Your weight matters, but it has to be considered in the context of how tall you are. Body mass index takes the two numbers into account. Like waist circumference, BMI is an indirect measure of risk, but a higher measure correlates with greater risk. The catch, however, is that it is not always entirely accurate. A person in excellent condition who has a lot of muscle mass may have a high BMI.
Too much excess weight is associated with diabetes, heart disease and stroke, some cancers, sleep apnea, osteoarthritis, fatty liver disease, and complications in pregnancy.


                                                         

Table: Metric BMI Formula

BMI = ( kg/m² )	weight in kilograms
	————————————
	height in meters²

 
Bottom line: People with BMIs less than 18.5 are underweight. Target BMI range is between 18.5 and 24.9. Overweight is considered between 25 and 30, and a BMI above 30 puts you in the obese category.

12. Blood pressure

         This one is critical to heart health. According to the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, 1 in 3 Americans have high blood pressure. When a nurse wraps the cuff around your arm, she's taking a reading of the force on the walls of your arteries, which is subject to fluctuating pressure as the heart beats to push blood through your body. The trouble is, high blood pressure doesn't have any telltale symptoms, so a person might be living with hypertension unknowingly. Over the long haul, elevated blood pressure can damage organs and fuel a cascade of problems.
Action to lower blood pressure can include medications, but diet and exercise can really beat those numbers back into submission. The DASH diet (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension)—high in veggies, fruit, fish, and whole grains but low in red meat fat and sugar—has been shown to lower blood pressure significantly. And research has suggested that the DASH diet packs an especially powerful wallop when people simultaneously work to reduce salt intake, a known blood pressure booster.

Bottom line: "The only number that really matters is 120 over 80," which is the cutoff for a normal blood pressure reading, says Yancy. The more one's blood pressure surpasses that level, the more damage to the vascular system, heart, and kidneys. The top number is called systolic blood pressure and is the measure of pressure while the heart beats. The bottom number is called diastolic and is the measure of pressure between heart beats. A reading above 120/80 but below 140/90 is considered prehypertension; anything above that is high blood pressure. Both require attention and steps to bring the blood pressure back under control.

13. Cholesterol

        Your cholesterol level is a measure of the fats circulating in your bloodstream. With out-of-whack cholesterol levels comes greater risk for coronary artery disease and stroke. Reducing saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, and total fat can help bring down your cholesterol level. And exercise, says Whiteson, "is one pill that treats all ills. It can touch all risk factors for heart disease," including reducing weight, reducing stress, improving blood sugar profiles, bringing down high blood pressure, and lowering total cholesterol, lowering LDL (the "bad" cholesterol), increasing HDL (the "good" cholesterol), and lowering triglycerides, a type of fat in the blood.

Bottom line: You're aiming for total cholesterol below 200 mg/DL; above 240 mg/DL puts you at twice the risk of coronary artery disease as a person within the normal range. HDL should be above 40 mg/DL for men and above 50 mg/DL for women (women tend to have higher HDL before menopause); above 60 mg/DL is categorized as protective to your heart. LDL ideally should be below 100 mg/DL, though up to 129 mg/DL is near optimal. High LDL is considered 160 mg/DL or above. Triglycerides should be below 150 mg/DL; a measure above 200 mg/DL is considered high.

the heart and its gadgets

Measurement techniques

• Electrocardiogram - for cardiac electrophysiology

Electrocardiograph (ECG, or EKG [from the German Elektrokardiogramm]) is a transthoracic interpretation of the electrical activity of the heart over time captured and externally recorded by skin electrodes.^[1] It is a noninvasive recording produced by an electrocardiographic device. The etymology of the word is derived from the Greek electro, because it is related to electrical activity, cardio, Greek for heart, and graph, a Greek root meaning "to write". In English speaking countries, medical professionals often write EKG (the abbreviation for the German word elektrokardiogramm) in order to avoid confusion with EEG

• Sphygmomanometer and stethoscope - for blood pressure 

A sphygmomanometer or blood pressure meter is a device used to measure blood pressure, comprising an inflatable cuff to restrict blood flow, and a mercury or mechanical manometer to measure the pressure. It is always used in conjunction with a means to determine at what pressure blood flow is just starting, and at what pressure it is unimpeded. Manual sphygmomanometers are used in conjunction with a stethoscope.

• Pulse meter - for cardiac function (heart rate, rhythm, dropped beats)

A heart rate monitor is a personal monitoring device which allows a subject to measure his heart rate in real time or record his heart rate for later study. Early models consisted of a monitoring box with a set of electrode leads which attached to the chest.

• Pulse - commonly used to determine the heart rate in absence of certain cardiac pathologies

 In medicine, one's pulse represents the tactile arterial palpation of the heartbeat by trained fingertips. The pulse may be palpated in any place that allows an artery to be compressed against a bone, such as at the neck (carotid artery), at the wrist (radial artery), behind the knee (popliteal artery), on the inside of the elbow (brachial artery), and near the ankle joint (posterior tibial artery). The pulse can also be measured by listening to the heart beat directly (auscultation), traditionally using a stethoscope.

• Heart rate variability 

- used to measure variations of time intervals between heart beats

• Nail bed blanching test 

- test for perfusion

• Vessel cannula or catheter pressure measurement 

- pulmonary wedge pressure or in older animal experiments

Perfectly demarcated heart.

HEART

   

Surface anatomy of the human heart. The heart is detached by:

- A radius of 9 cm to the left of the midsternal line (apex of the heart)
-The seventh right sternocostal articulation
-The upper border of the third right costal cartilage 1 cm from the right sternal line
-The lower border of the second left costal cartilage 2.5 cm from the left lateral sternal line.

 

Human heart removed from a 64-year-old male

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Each year, the heart pumps more than 1,848 gal (7,000 l) of blood through a closed system of about 62,100 mi (100,000 km) of blood vessels. This is more than twice the distance around the equator of the Earth. As blood circulates around the body, it picks up oxygen from the lungs, nutrients from the small intestine, and hormones from the endocrine glands, and delivers these to the cells. Blood then picks up carbon dioxide and cellular wastes from cells and delivers these to the lungs and kidneys, where they are excreted. Substances pass out of blood vessels to the cells through the interstitial or tissue fluid that surrounds cells.

The adult heart is a hollow cone-shaped muscular organ located in the centerof the chest cavity. The lower tip of the heart tilts toward the left. The heart is about the size of a clenched fist and weighs approximately 10.5 oz (300 g). Remarkably, the heart beats more than 100,000 times a day and close to2.5 billion times in the average lifetime. A triple-layered sac, the pericardium surrounds, protects, and anchors the heart. A liquid pericardial fluid located in the space between two of the layers, reduces friction when the heartmoves.

The heart is divided into four chambers. A partition or septum divides it into a left and right side. Each side is further divided into an upper and lowerchamber. The upper chambers, atria (singular atrium), are thin-walled. Theyreceive blood entering the heart, and pump it to the ventricles, the lower heart chambers. The walls of the ventricles are thicker and contain more cardiac muscle than the walls of the atria, enabling the ventricles to pump blood out to the lungs and the rest of the body. The left and right sides of the heart function as two separate pumps. The right atrium receives oxygen-poor blood from the body from a major vein, the vena cava, and delivers it to the right ventricle. The right ventricle, in turn, pumps the blood to the lungs via the pulmonary artery. The left atrium receives the oxygen-rich blood from the lungs from the pulmonary veins, and delivers it to the left ventricle. The left ventricle then pumps it into the aorta, a major artery that leads to all parts of the body. The wall of the left ventricle is thicker than the wall of the right ventricle, making it a more powerful pump able to push blood through its longer trip around the body.

CLOSED CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM

The cardiovascular systems of humans are closed, meaning that the blood never leaves the network of blood vessels. In contrast, oxygen and nutrients diffuse across the blood vessel layers and enters interstitial fluid, which carries oxygen and nutrients to the target cells, and carbon dioxide and wastes in the opposite direction

One-way valves in the heart keep blood flowing in the right direction and prevent backflow. The valves open and close in response to pressure changes in the heart. Atrioventricular (AV) valves are located between the atria and ventricles. Semilunar (SL) valves lie between the ventricles and the major arteries into which they pump blood. The "lub-dup" sounds that the physician hearsthrough the stethoscope occur when the heart valves close. The AV valves produce the "lub" sound upon closing, while the SL valves cause the "dup" sound. People with a heart murmur have a defective heart valve that allows the backflow of blood.The heart cycle refers to the events associated with a single heartbeat. The cycle involves systole, the contraction phase, and diastole, the relaxation phase. In the heart, the two atria contract while the two ventricles relax. Then, the two ventricles contract while the two atria relax. The heart cycle consists of a systole and diastole of both the atria and ventricles. At the end of a heartbeat all four chambers rest. The rate of heartbeat averages about75 beats per minute, and each cardiac cycle takes about 0.8 seconds.

Human Circulatory System

Human circulatory system is divided into 3 
~Pulmonary Circulation
~Systemic Circulation
~Coronary Circulation

Pulmonary Circulation
Pulmonary circulation is the portion which transport oxygenated blood away from the heart to the lungs and return back to the heart.

Systemic Circulation
Systemic circulation is the portion of the cardiovascular system which transports oxygenated blood away from the heart to the rest of the body and returns deoxygenated blood back to the heart.

Coronary Circulation
Coronary circulation provide a blood supply to the heart.As it provides oxygenated blood to the heart.
As it provides oxygenated blood to the heart,it is called a part of the systemic circulatory system.

Thats for a FACT.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the term used for heart, stroke and blood vessel diseases. It is the leading cause of death in Australia, accounting for 34% of all deaths in Australia in 2006. Cardiovascular disease kills one Australian nearly every 10 minutes.
Cardiovascular disease is one of Australia's largest health problems. Despite improvements over the last few decades, it remains one of the biggest burdens on our economy.

Cardiovascular disease:

• is heart, stroke and blood vessel disease
• kills one Australian nearly every 11 minutes
• affects more than 3.4 million Australians
• prevents 1.4 million people from living a full life because of disability caused by the disease
• affects one in five Australians, and affects two out of three families
• claimed the lives of almost 48,500 Australians (34% of all deaths) in 2008 - deaths that are largely preventable.

Facts about Heart Disease in United State

• In 2006, 631,636 people died of heart disease. Heart disease caused 26% of deaths—more than one in every four—in the United States.
• Heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women. Half of the deaths due to heart disease in 2006 were women. Coronary heart disease is the most common type of heart disease. In 2005, 445,687 people died from coronary heart disease.
• Every 34 seconds a  person in the United States dies from heart disease.
• More than 2,500 Americans die from heart disease each day.
• Every 20 seconds, a person in the United States has a heart attack.
• At least 250,000 people die of heart attacks each year before they reach a hospital.
• Studies show that under-educated people are more likely to suffer heart attacks.
• The countries with the highest death rates from heart disease are the Soviet Union, Romania, Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia. The countries with the lowest are Japan, France, Spain, Switzerland, and Canada.
• Almost 6 million hospitalizations each year (in the United States) are due to cardiovascular disease.
• Since 1900, Cardio Vascular Disease has been the number 1 killer in the United States for every year but 1918.
• Every 33 seconds, a person dies from Cardio Vascular Disease in the United States.
• Men suffer heart attacks about 10 years earlier in life than women do.
• Every year about 785,000 Americans have a first heart attack. Another 470,000 who have already had one or more heart attacks have another attack.
• Across the United States, death rates due to heart disease in 2006 were highest in Mississippi and lowest in Minnesota.
• In 2010, heart disease will cost the United States $316.4 billion. This total includes the cost of health care services, medications, and lost productivity.

Introduction to Cardiovascular Diseases.

About Cardiovascular Disease.

Cardiovascular diseases is the class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels (arteries and veins). While the term technically refers to any disease that affects the cardiovascular disease , it is usually used to refer to those related to atherosclerosis (arterial disease). These conditions have similar causes, mechanisms, and treatments.

In practice, cardiovascular disease is treated by cardiologists, thoracic surgeons, vascular surgeons, neurologists, and interventional radiologists, depending on the organ system that is being treated. There is considerable overlap in the specialties, and it is common for certain procedures to be performed by different types of specialists in the same hospital.

Most countries face high and increasing rates of cardiovascular disease. Each year, heart disease kills more Americans than cancer. In recent years, cardiovascular risk in women has been increasing and has killed more women than breast cancer.^[2] A large histological study (PDAY) showed vascular injury accumulates from adolescence, making primary prevention efforts necessary from childhood.^[3][4]

By the time that heart problems are detected, the underlying cause (atherosclerosis) is usually quite advanced, having progressed for decades. There is therefore increased emphasis on preventing atherosclerosis by modifying risk factors, such as healthy eating, exercise and avoidance of smoking.

Cardiovascular diseases include the following;

• Aneurysm
• Angina
• Atherosclerosis
• Cerebrovascular Accident (Stroke)
• Cerebrovascular disease
• Congestive Heart Failure
• Coronary Artery Disease
• Myocardial infarction (Heart Attack)
• Peripheral vascular disease

Unlike many other chronic medical conditions, Cardiovascular disease is treatable and reversible, even after a long history of disease. Treatment is primarily focused on diet and stress reduction.

Population based studies in the youth show that the precursors of heart disease start in adolescence. The process of atherosclerosis evolves over decades, and begins as early as childhood. The Pathobiological Determinants of Atherosclerosis in Youth Study demonstrated that intimal lesions appear in all the aortas and more than half of the right coronary arteries of youths aged 7–9 years. However, most adolescents are more concerned about other risks such as HIV, accidents, and cancer than cardiovascular disease. This is extremely important considering that 1 in 3 people will die from complications attributable to atherosclerosis. In order to stem the tide of cardiovascular disease, primary prevention is needed. Primary prevention starts with education and awareness that cardiovascular disease poses the greatest threat and measures to prevent or reverse this disease must be taken.

Statistics of Cardiovascular Disease.

Estimates for the year 2006 are that 81,100,000 people in the United States have one or more forms of cardiovascular disease (CVD).

• High blood pressure — 73,600,000.
• Coronary heart disease — 17,600,000.
  • Myocardial infarction (mi"o-KAR'de-al in-FARK'shun) (acute heart attack) — 8,500,000.
  • Angina pectoris (AN'jih-nah or an-JI'nah PEK'tor-is) (chest pain or discomfort caused by reduced blood supply to the heart muscle) — 10,200,000.
• Stroke — 6,400,000.
• Heart Failure — 5,800,000

Cardiovascular diseases

• Claimed 831,272 lives in 2006 (final mortality) (34.3 percent of all deaths or 1 of every 2.9 deaths).
• Other final 2006 mortality: total cancer 559,888; accidents 121,599; HIV (AIDS) 12,113.
• Over 151,000 Americans killed by CVD in 2006 were under age 65.
• 2006 final death rates from CVD were 306.6 for white males and 422.8 for black males; for white females 215.5 and for black females 298.2. (Death rates are per 100,000 population. The rates listed use the year 2000 standard U.S. population as the base for age adjustment.)
• From 1996 to 2006, death rates from CVD declined 29.2 percent.
• In the same 10-year period the actual number of deaths declined 12.9 percent.

Coronary heart disease
Coronary heart disease is caused by atherosclerosis (ath"er-o-skleh-RO'sis), the narrowing of the coronary arteries due to fatty build ups of plaque. It's likely to produce angina pectoris (chest pain), heart attack or both.

• Coronary heart disease caused 425,425 deaths in 2006 and is the single leading cause of death in America today.
• 17,600,000 people alive today have a history of heart attack, angina pectoris or both. This is about 9,200,000 males and 8,400,000 females.
• This year an estimated 1.26 million Americans will have a new or recurrent coronary attack.
• There are about 295,000 EMS-assessed out-of-hospital cardiac arrests annually in the United States.
• From 1996 to 2006 the death rate from coronary heart disease declined 36.4 percent.
• In 2006, coronary heart disease death rates per 100,000 people were 176.3 for white males and 206.4 for black males; and 101.5 for white females and 130.0 for black females. (Death rates are per 100,000 population. The rates use the year 2000 standard population for age adjustment.)

Mortality — The total number of deaths from a given disease in a population during a specific interval of time, usually a year.


Prevalence — The total number of cases of a given disease existing in a population at a specific point in time.

Human and Heart

Many would ask why human and heart? Why not health and heart? Why not health and human? The reason why we chose 'Human and Heart' as our blog link because, we want to create awareness among people about heart. Why not Health and human? We are talking about heart and it covers a wide topic not just about health, its about our important organ. And why not health and human? We think 'Heart and Human' sounds better than health ;] Yeah, it seems to be cliche as it sounds.


Throughout the blog, we are hoping that our blog will motivate people with whatever interests they may have in improving their living conditions. Our aim is to develop in them a sense of responsibility for health conditions for themselves as individuals, as members of families, and as communities. In communicable control, our blog commonly includes an appraisal of what is known by a population about a disease, an assessment of habits and attitudes of the people as they relate to spread and frequency of the disease, and the presentation of specific means to remedy observed deficiencies.
Lets keep our fingers cross that this blog will be an effective tool that helps improve health in developing nations and re-shape everyday habits of people with unhealthy lifestyles in developing countries. People become more aware of information relating to the disease, rather than believing in just public perception. Our blog is not with how to prevent illnesses, it also provides details of how a disease works, which may dispel some myths and fallacies about it in society. The HIV virus for example, can be spread through unprotected sexual intercourse, but not through activities such as kissing or touching. This also helps change a person's views towards someone infected, promoting more empathy rather than discrimination.

Because heart covers a wide topic, we decided to choose Cardiovascular Disease as our main topic on this blog. Why? Because, Cardiovascular Disease or CVD are the world's largest killers, claiming 17.1 million lives a year. Estimates for the year 2006 are that 81,100,000 people in the United States have one or more forms of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Cardiovascular disease is a major worldwide public heart problem. It is the number one cause of death in industrialized countries. The global burden of cardiovascular disease can be seen from the mortality data for coronary heart disease and cerebrovascular disease for individual countries; the data are available at www.eatlas.idf.org/cvd. However, many take this serious issues lightly and unaware about the disease. We are aware about the situation and would like to take the essential role by giving more information to others.


Although the mind has the ability to absorb much information, until we put that information to use - that information is useless. Even those who have accredited degrees sometimes fail to use knowledge prudently. Our society has doctors who are so over weight they have difficulty in walking; we have ministers who have fallen prey to certain addictions - and so forth. So although health education is important, it's more important to use that knowledge.