Heart attacks result from heart disease, which is caused by blood vessel disease in the heart.
It can cause angina pectoris , heart attack, or both. CHD caused 476,124 deaths in 1996, and is the single leading cause of death in America today. This year an estimated 1,100,000 Americans will have a new or recurrent coronary attack, and about one third of them will die. At least 250,000 people a year die of heart attack within one hour of the onset of symptoms and before they reach a hospital. From 1985 to 1995 the death rate from heart attack declined 28.7 percent.