Most people only think of middle-aged adults or the elderly as being affected by heart disease.
Children are usually thought of as having healthy hearts. Nearly one million people living in the US were born with a congenital heart defect. Thirty-six percent of adolescents and young adults who die suddenly have a disease of the heart muscle known as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. About 1.8 million Americans have rheumatic heart disease, an illness which usually strikes in childhood. Nearly 3,000 children a year have an illness that can damage the heart and coronary arteries known as Kawasaki disease.