More than 2,600 Americans die each day of cardiovascular disease, an average of one death every 33 seconds.
Stroke is the third leading cause of death and is the leading cause of long-term disability.
Given these numbers, there's a very good chance that heart disease affects someone you know. The AHA funds grants for projects that focus on the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of heart disease and stroke. Research funded by the AHA has yielded such discoveries as the pacemaker, bypass surgery, CPR, artificial heart valves and blood pressure medication just to name a few. In addition, they provide educational programs to the community that emphasize healthy eating, smoking cessation, blood pressure monitoring and physical activity, and they also assist healthcare professionals to keep pace with the latest in prevention and treatment methods. But all this work costs money, and the AHA relies heavily on public funding events such as their Heart Walk.