Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death in the US, although there's been a dramatic increase in procedures to combat heart problems.

The American Heart Association has just released the latest figures - covering 1999 - on heart disease. They say that more lives were lost to cardiovascular disease (CVD) than to any other cause of death. CVD deaths in 1999 totalled 958,755, compared to 549,838 for cancer, 97,860 for accidents, Alzheimer's disease 44,536 and HIV/AIDS 14,802.

Coronary heart disease alone claimed 529,659 deaths - that's one in five of all deaths. And one in five of all CVD deaths are caused by smoking, while up to 40,000 non-smokers die from CVD caused by passive smoking.

When it comes to prevention, it's a concern that only 39 per cent of adults with high blood pressure are having levels controlled to less than the recommended 140/90 mm Hg. But far more surgical procedures are being carried out. Cardiac catheterisations increased 355 per cent between 1979 and 1999, while angioplasty increased 285 per cent between 1987 and 1999. In 1999, there were 1,359,000 catheterisations and 601,000 angioplasties - with a similar number of heart bypass operations.

Source

American Heart Association December 31 2001