Heart Facts

*Fast Fact
“Trans fat-free” doesn’t automatically mean a food is healthy. Such foods can still contain the other bad fat—saturated fat—and still be high in calories.

*Fast Fact
6 grams: The amount of trans fatty acids in a large order of fries. That amount is 4 grams over the total daily recommendation of 2 grams (preferably less) for the average adult.

*Fast Fact
Do you want trans fats with that? Most Americans consume four to five times the number of trans-fat calories recommended by the American Heart Association.

*Fast Fact
U.S. women with the highest levels of trans fat in their blood have three times the risk of coronary heart disease as those with the lowest levels, according to the journal Circulation.

*Fast Fact
10: The number of years you'll add to your life by keeping a healthy weight, blood pressure, and cholesterol; avoiding diabetes; and not smoking. Source: Circulation 2006

*Fast Fact
Replace high-fat dairy products, red meats, and eggs (including baked goods that contain whole eggs) with fish and plant-based foods to significantly lower your dietary cholesterol. Source: The Cardiac Recovery Handbook: The Complete Guide to Life After Heart Attack or Heart Surgery by Paul Kligfield, M.D. (Healthy Living Books, 2004)

*Fast Fact
People with diabetes at age 50 or older were shown to have double the risk of developing cardiovascular disease than nondiabetics. Source: Archives of Internal Medicine

*Fast Fact
About 72 million people age 20 and older in the United States have high blood pressure. Source: Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association

*Fast Fact
Just 15 minutes of relaxation can alter your heart rate.

*Fast Fact
One in 2½ women die of heart disease or stroke, compared to one in 30 from breast cancer.
Source: American Heart Association

*Fast Fact
Physical inactivity doubles the risk of heart disease. Source: American Heart Association

*Fast Fact
Only 60 percent of doctors know that a bigger waist size raises the odds of having a heart attack.
Source: Journal of Women’s Health

*Fast Fact
If you have slightly high blood pressure, dropping 8–10 pounds can bring it down to normal.
Source: The Cardiac Recovery Handbook: The Complete Guide to Life After a Heart Attack or Heart Surgery by Paul Kligfield, (Healthy Living Books, 2004)

*Fast Fact
Awareness that heart disease is their leading cause of death (by ethnicity):

• 60% Caucasian
• 42% Hispanic
• 38% African-American

Source: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

*Fast Fact
Nearly 60 percent of patients taking statins reported fatigue.

*Fast Fact
1 in 5: The number of children in the United States who are obese. Source: American Heart Association

*Fast Fact
Each year the flu causes 36,000 deaths and 225,000 hospital stays in the United States.

*Fast Fact
Cardiovascular disease is the most costly disease in the United States. The projected tally for medical costs and lost productivity in 2007 is $432 billion. Source: Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics, 2007 update

*Fast Fact
There was a 28 percent lower risk of heart attack for those who ate 1 cup of whole grain cereal every day.
Source: Luc Djoussé, M.D., Harvard Medical School

*Fast Fact
Two million children in the United States have a prediabetic condition linked to obesity and inactivity that puts them on the road to heart problems.

*Fast Fact
Female smokers have two to four times greater risk of heart attack than female nonsmokers.

*Fast Fact
Twenty-seven million children have high cholesterol levels. Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

*Fast Fact
Anger-prone people are three times more likely to have heart attacks.

*Fast Fact
For every $1 spent on wellness and health in the workplace, employers save up to $16.
Source: Brigham Young University

*Fast Fact
Three hours a week of brisk walking can cut heart disease risk by 40 percent. Source: Harvard University Nurse's Health Study

*Fast Fact
About 17 percent of U.S. doctors prescribe fish oil as a preventive heart-health measure.

*Fast Fact
Beans are as effective as oat bran in lowering cholesterol. Eat 3 cups of beans each week to reduce your risk of heart disease.