Although cardiovascular disease is often thought to primarily affect men and older people, it is a major killer of women and people in the prime of life . More than half of all cardiovascular disease deaths each year occur among women. This disease is the leading cause of death among Americans in middle age, killing more than 160,000 people between the ages of 35 and 64 each year. In addition, the rate of premature deaths due to cardiovascular disease is greater among black than among white Americans. A consideration of deaths alone severely understates the burden of cardiovascular disease.
Heart disease is the leading cause of permanent disability among working adults.
Stroke alone accounts for disability among more than 1 million people nationwide. Almost 6 million hospitalizations each year are due to cardiovascular disease. Congestive heart failure, one form of cardiovascular disease, is the single most frequent cause of hospitalization among people aged 65 years or older. The economic burden of cardiovascular disease has a profound impact on the U.S. health care system, and this burden continues to grow as the population ages. This figure includes health expenditures and lost productivity resulting from illness and death.