Heart Disease

What is Heart Disease? Heart disease, also known as cardiovascular disease (CVD), encompasses a range of conditions that affect the heart and blood vessels. It primarily involves narrowed or blocked blood vessels that can lead to a heart attack, chest pain (angina), or stroke. However, heart disease also includes conditions that affect the heart's muscles, valves, or rhythm. How common is heart disease? Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States . In 2024, cardiovascular disease claimed 931,578 lives in the United States, marking a small rise from the previous year. This elevated the age-adjusted death rate for cardiovascular disease to 233.3 per 100,000 people, reflecting a 4% increase. This upward trend is likely influenced by factors such as lifestyle changes, aging demographics, and potentially lingering effects from the COVID-19 pandemic, which heightened the risk of heart-related complications. Public health efforts are increasingly focusing on early de...