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Death Rates From Heart Disease Still High

Feb. 15, 2001 -- Americans clearly have not gotten the message -- heart disease is still the No. 1 killer of men and women.

A new CDC report shows that during 1998, nearly 460,000 deaths were caused by heart disease -- and heart attack specifically accounted for 44% of those deaths. During 2001, over 1 million people are expected to have a coronary event of some sort. In fact, the 1990s have marked a departure from the steady declines that public health officials have tracked since the 1960s.

Why? "People are making minimal changes in preventive behaviors," says Janice E. Williams, PhD, MPH, epidemiologist in the cardiovascular health branch at the CDC in Atlanta.

Translation: We're still smoking, eating too much -- especially too much fatty food -- and not getting enough exercise. Those bad habits are making us fat and putting us at risk for both cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

Among those over age 35, more men than women are dying of heart disease, according to the CDC report. White men had the highest risk (44% died of heart disease), followed by black men (42%) and Hispanics (28%). Statistics regarding women showed that African-Americans had the highest death rates (30%) from heart disease, while 26% of white women died from heart disease.

The bottom-line message: Heart disease can be prevented by reducing or controlling high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and diabetes. Give up smoking cigarettes, eat a low-fat diet with emphasis on fruits and vegetables, make sure you are moderately active -- getting 30 minutes of walking, for instance -- on most days of the week, Williams says.

Also: "Know the warning signs of heart attack and respond to cardiac emergency very, very quickly by calling 911 [or your emergency response number]," she tells WebMD. Warning signs are uncomfortable pressure in the chest, pain spreading to the shoulders, neck or arm, chest discomfort with lightheadedness, fainting, sweating, nausea, or shortness of breath.

In fact, getting medical help in the early minutes of heart attack can mean the difference between life and death, says Steven V. Manoukian, MD, a cardiologist with Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta.

"Waiting 15 or 30 minutes, an hour, two hours before you go to a hospital -- that delay means a difference in the treatment options you have available, in your chances of survival," Manoukian tells WebMD. "Get to the ER early and there's much more we can do for you."

Symptoms may be just a sense of "nagging discomfort ... a feeling so vague they may not even want to wake up their wives," Manoukian tells WebMD. "But always be aware."

For women, the elderly, and diabetics, symptoms might be a bit different -- a bit more vague or confusing -- shortness of breath, nausea, weakness, sweatiness, dizziness.