♥ 41,000,000: the number of women currently living with cardiovascular disease
♥ 8,000,000: the number of women today who have a history of having a heart attack or angina or both
♥ 5,000,000: the number of women hospitalized each year for cardiovascular disease
♥ 500,000: the number of women who die each year from cardiovascular disease
♥ 270,100: estimated number of annual cancer deaths in US women for ALL cancers combined*
♥ 213,000: the number of women who die each year from a heart attack
♥ 160,000: the number of women who die each year from congestive heart failure
♥ 40,480: the number of women who died from breast cancer in 2008*
♥ 58%: the percentage of women with a cholesterol level greater than 200 mg/dl
♥ 28%: the percentage of women with a cholesterol level greater than 240 mg/dl
♥ 50%: the percentage of women over the age of 55 who have high blood pressure
♥ 50%, 64%, 60%, 53%: the percentage of Caucasian, African American, Hispanic, and Asian/pacific islander women who lead a sedentary lifestyle
♥ 58%, 78%, 73%: the percentage of Caucasian, African American and Hispanic women who are over weight
♥ 30%: the percentage increase risk of heart disease with exposure to second hand smoke
♥ 21%: the percentage increase risk of heart disease in women who smoke and take birth control pills
♥ 38%: the percentage of women who will die within one year of a recognized heart attack
♥ 35%: the percentage of women heart attack survivors who will have another heart attack within 6 months
♥ 46%: the percentage of women heart attack survivors who will be disabled with heart failure within 6 months
more women than men die each year from heart disease and yet women receive only 33% of angioplasties, stents and bypass surgeries, 28% of defibrillators, and are less likely to receive beta blockers, ACE inhibitors or even aspirin
♥ 27%: the percentage of women participants in all heart-related research studies
♥ 7,095,000: the number of cardiovascular operations and procedures performed in 2006 – 4,000,000 were performed in men and 3,100,000 were performed in women (yet more women than men die from heart disease each year)
♥ $475,300,000,000: the direct and indirect costs of cardiovascular disease in 2009
Lloyd-Jones D, Adams R, Carnethon M,. et al. Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics 2009 Update: A Report from the American Heart Association Statistics Committee and Stroke Statistics Subcomittee. Circulation. 2009; 119:e21-e181. National Center for Health Statistics. Deaths: Leading Causes for 2004. National Vital Statistics Reports. 2007; 56(5):1-96. * American Cancer Society 2007-2008 facts and figures