It’s a nightmare scenario for overworked, overstressed
Americans: chest pains, shortness of breath, and a rush of panic
signaling that they’re having a heart attack. And it’s a well-
grounded fear. The odds that a person aged 20 or older in the
United States has had a heart attack are 1 in 27.03, rising to 1
in 10.72 for a person aged 35 or older. Major cardiovascular
diseases killed more than 800,000 people in the United States in
2007, some 33% of total deaths nationwide and more than cancer,
accidents, and HIV combined. A person aged 20 or older in the US
has a 1 in 2.7 chance of having cardiovascular disease (an
umbrella term for heart ailments). And risks rise with age: men
aged 50 have a 1 in 1.93 (51.8%) chance of receiving that
diagnosis at some point, while the risk for women is 1 in 2.55.
These numbers cover many types of heart trouble. The first
warning sign may be angina pectoris, chest pain that occurs when
the heart doesn’t get enough blood. Angina can be a sign of
coronary artery disease, or dam