Know the Facts

According to the World Health Organization:

• Cardiovascular Diseases (CVDs) are the number 1 cause of death globally: more people die annually from CVDs than from any other cause.
• An estimated 17.5 million people died from CVDs in 2012, representing 31% of all global deaths.
• Most cardiovascular diseases can be prevented by addressing behavioral risk factors such as:

What are the types of Cardiovascular Disease?

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are a group of disorders of the heart and blood vessels and they include:

• Coronary heart disease: disease of the blood vessels supplying the heart muscle.
• Cerebrovascular disease: disease of the blood vessels supplying the brain.
• Peripheral arterial disease: disease of blood vessels supplying the arms and legs.
• Rheumatic heart disease: damage to the heart muscle and heart valves from rheumatic fever, caused by streptococcal bacteria.
• Congenital heart disease: malformations of heart structure existing at birth.
• Deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism: blood clots in the leg veins, which can dislodge and move to the heart and lungs.

Are You at Risk?

Anyone, including children, can develop heart disease. It occurs when a substance called plaque builds up in your arteries; causing them to narrow and reducing blood flow to the heart, other organs and extremities.

Having high cholesterol, high blood pressure or diabetes also can increase your risk for heart disease. Ask your doctor about preventing or treating these medical conditions.

• Raised Blood Pressure and High Cholesterol are leading causes for CVDs

The most severe outcomes of CVDs are a Myocardial Infarction (Heart Attack) and/or a Cerebrovascular accident (Stroke).

Blood Pressure and Elevated Cholesterol

More than 1 in 5 adults worldwide have raised blood pressure – a condition that causes around half of all deaths from stroke and heart disease.

• Complications from hypertension account for 9.4 million deaths worldwide every year.

Globally, one third of ischemic heart disease is attributable to high cholesterol.

• Overall, raised cholesterol is estimated to cause 2.6 million deaths every year.

Diagnosis of Heart Cardiovascular Disease

Your doctor can perform several tests to diagnose heart disease:

• including chest X-rays
• coronary angiograms
• electrocardiograms (ECG or EKG)
• exercise stress tests
• physical exams

Signs and Symptoms of a Heart Attack

Making Changes

Lifestyle is a major contributing factor to many chronic diseases such as, CVDs. please explore the links on the right-hand side of the page to help you assess your current lifestyle and guide you in your decision making.

The decision is in your hands!

Start TODAY!