Some health and healthcare facts…

• Heart disease is the number one cause of death for both men and women in the United States. Cancer and stroke round out the top three.

• Heart disease accounts for 40% of all U.S. deaths, more than all forms of cancer combined.

• Negative emotions and depression are risk factors for heart attack and stroke. Conversely, happier people are less likely to develop heart disease.

• Researchers found that a woman’s resting pulse rate was a good indicator of her risk of heart attack. Women with high heart rates, at or above 76 beats per minute, were more likely to suffer a heart attack than women with lower resting pulse rates (62 beats per minute or less).

• People with diabetes, older adults, and women may not have the classic symptom of chest pain during a heart attack. They are more likely to suffer from shortness of breath, nausea, back pain, and/or jaw pain.

• More than 79,400,000 Americans have one or more forms of heart disease.

• Research suggests that 25% of heart attacks go unrecognized and are discovered only later when a routine ECG is performed.

• One in 2.6 female deaths in the U.S. is from heart disease, compared to one in 30 from breast cancer.

Source:Chilnick, Lawrence. 2008. Heart Disease: An Essential Guide for the Newly Diagnosed. Philadelphia, PA: Perseus Books Group.

• Approximately 90% of people with Type 2 diabetes are obese.

• African-Americans and Hispanics have a much higher rate of Type 2 diabetes than whites. There are 74 cases per 1,000 for African-Americans, 61 cases for Hispanics, and 36 cases for whites.

• Some studies have indicated that individuals with diabetes are at much greater risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia than are non-diabetics, though the reasons are unknown.

• There are approximately 86,000 lower-limb amputations on diabetics in the United States each year. Rates of amputation were higher among men than women and higher among African-Americans than whites. Experts believe nearly half of all amputations could have been prevented with appropriate examinations and education.

• Approximately 11% of all Americans aged 65-74 have diabetes. About 20% of those over 75 years old have diabetes, and nearly half of them are unaware they have the disease.

• According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), diabetes is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States.

• Experts report that diabetes decreases life expectancy by five to 10 years.

• Approximately 17 million U.S. residents have been diagnosed with diabetes, which is nearly 10% of the estimated 170 million people suffering from diabetes worldwide.

Source: Adamec, Christine. 2002. The Encyclopedia of Diabetes. New York, NY: Facts on File, Inc.       Collazo-Clavell, Maria. 2001. Mayo Clinic on Managing Diabetes. New York, NY: Kensington Publishing Corp.

• More than 20 million people in the United States suffer from depression in a given year.

• Women are twice as likely to suffer from depression than men. Women may be at a higher risk for depression due in part to estrogen, which may alter the activity of neurotransmitters that contribute to depression.

• At some point in their lives, about one in four Americans will experience depression.

• Men typically experience depression differently from women and use different means to cope. For example, while women may feel hopeless, men may feel irritable. Women may crave a listening ear, while men may became socially withdrawn or become violent or abusive.

• Approximately 80% sufferers of depression are not receiving treatment.

• Fifty-eight percent of caregivers for an elderly relative experience symptoms of depression.

• The total cost of depression in the Untied States are estimated to be $44 billion: $12 billion in direct costs of treatment, $8 billion in premature death, and $24 billion in absenteeism and reduced productivity at work. These do not include out-of-pocket family expenses, costs of minor and untreated depression, excessive hospitalization, general medical services, and diagnostic tests.

Source: Lam, Raymond W. and Hiram Wok. 2008. Depression. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.