Fact Sheets and At-a-Glance Reports

Heart Disease Fact Sheet

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*Heart disease death rates are spatially smoothed to enhance the stability of rates in counties with small populations.  Deaths are defined according to the following International Classification of Diseases (ICD) codes:  ICD-9: 390–398, 402, 404–429; ICD-10: 100–109, I11, I13, 120–151.
Data Sources: National Vital Statistics System, CDC, and the U.S. Census Bureau.

Heart Disease Facts

• Heart disease is the leading cause of death for women and men in the United States.*^1,2
   
• In 2003, a total of 685,089 people died of heart disease (51% of them women), accounting for 28% of all U.S. deaths. The age-adjusted death rate was 232 per 100,000 population.²
   
• In the United States, the highest death rates from heart disease are located primarily in Appalachia, along the southeastern coastal plains, inland through the southern regions of Georgia and Alabama, and along the lower Mississippi River Valley. ³
   
• Heart disease death rates per 100,000 population for the five largest U.S. racial/ethnic groups are as follows: blacks, 300; whites, 228; Hispanics, 173; American Indian/Alaskan Natives, 160 and Asian and Pacific Islanders,128.⁴
   
• In 2006, heart disease is projected to cost $142.5 billion, including health care services, medications, and lost productivity.²
   
• Studies among coronary heart disease patients have shown that 90% have prior exposure to at least 1 of these heart disease risk factors: high blood cholesterol or taking cholesterol-lowering drugs, high blood pressure or taking blood pressure-lowering drugs, current cigarette use, or clinical report of diabetes.⁵

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^*   For this fact sheet, the term “heart disease” refers to the broadest category of “disease of the heart” as defined by the International Classification of Diseases and used by CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics. This category includes acute rheumatic fever, chronic rheumatic heart disease, hypertensive heart disease, coronary heart disease, pulmonary heart disease, congestive heart failure, and any other heart condition or disease.

CDC Activities to Reduce the Burden of Heart Disease

CDC's Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Program
CDC currently funds health departments in 32 states and the District of Columbia to develop, implement, and evaluate programs that promote heart-healthy and stroke-free communities; prevent and control heart disease, stroke, and their risk factors; and eliminate disparities among populations.  These programs emphasize the use of education, policies, environmental strategies, and systems changes to address heart disease and stroke in various settings and to ensure quality of care.  For more information, visit www.cdc.gov/dhdsp/state_program/index.htm.

Women and Heart Disease: An Atlas of Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Mortality and Men and Heart Disease: An Atlas of Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Mortality
These two publications present an extensive series of national and state maps depicting disparities in county-level heart disease death rates among the five largest U.S. racial and ethnic groups. This information can help health professionals and concerned citizens tailor prevention policies and programs to communities with the highest death rates for heart disease. Interactive versions of the atlases are available at http://www.cdc.gov/dhdsp/maps/.

For More Information

For more information on heart disease, visit the following Web sites.

• The Center for Disease Control and Prevention's Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention
   
• American Heart Association*
   
• National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
   

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Resources

1. American Heart Association. Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics—2006 Update. Dallas, Texas: American Heart Association, 2006.
    
2. Hoyert DL, Heron MP, Murphy SL, Kung H. Deaths: Final Data for 2003. National vital statistics reports; vol 54 no 13. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2006.
    
3. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Heart Disease Death Rates, 1999–2004: Adults Ages 35 Years and Older, by County. Available at http://www.cdc.gov/dhdsp/library/maps/index.htm (please see map above).
    
4. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Health, United States, 2005 with Chartbook on Trends in the Health of Americans. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics, 2005.
    
5. Greenland P, Knoll MD, Stamler J, Neaton JD, Dyer AR, Garside DB, Wilson PW. Major risk factors as antecedents of fatal and nonfatal coronary heart disease events. JAMA 2003;290:891–897.

 
*Links to non–Federal organizations are provided solely as a service to our users. Links do not constitute an endorsement of any organization by CDC or the Federal Government, and none should be inferred. The CDC is not responsible for the content of the individual organization Web pages found at this link.
 

Page last reviewed: July 1, 2008
Page last modified: July 1, 2008
Content source: Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion