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Heart Disease : A Range Of Conditions That Affect Your Heart Essay

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When people hear the term “cardiovascular disease” they often think of heart attacks or strokes but heart disease exists way beyond just heart attacks or strokes. Mayo Clinic (2014) defines heart disease as “a range of conditions that affect your heart”. The most common forms of cardiovascular (heart) disease, besides heart attack and stroke, are: coronary artery disease, high blood pressure, cardiac arrest, congestive heart failure, arrhythmia, congenital heart disease, and so many more. This essay is going to explain what cardiovascular disease is, the history of it, what causes heart disease, how to prevent it and the treatments available. Know that it is know what exactly cardiovascular disease is, just how big of a problem is heart disease? Heart disease is believed to affect an estimated 82.6 million Americans and accounts for every one in three deaths (Teague, Mackenzie, & Rosenthal, 2015, p. 314). According to the Heart Foundation (2015), heart disease is the number one death in the United States and claims more lives than all forms of cancer combined. In 2011 alone, 787,000 people died from some form of cardiovascular disease. Of the many different types of heart disease, coronary artery disease has the highest death rate among heart disease, killing an average of 380,000 people annually. That accounts for almost half of the deaths related to heart disease. While cardiovascular disease is a problem for people all over the United States, it is an even bigger

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