Heart attack - Heart attack facts and figures

Heart attack

Heart attack facts and figures

Some facts and figures about heart attacks are given below. Please remember when you look at these numbers that you are not a statistic. No one can say exactly what will happen to you after you have a heart attack. No two people have exactly the same experience.

Every year, just under 1 million Americans have a heart attack. Just over half of them live through it.

Source:
National Institute of Health, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.
Act in TIME to heart attack signs.
Available at http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/actintime (accessed on 11 November 2008).

¹ Most people who don't live through a heart attack die before they reach the hospital.
Getting to the hospital right away makes it much more likely that you'll survive. If you reach the hospital, you have a 90 percent chance of living for at least a year after your heart attack.

Source:
National Institute of Health, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.
Act in TIME to heart attack signs.
Available at http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/actintime (accessed on 11 November 2008).

¹
About 18 out of every 100 men and 35 of every 100 women who have lived through a heart attack will have another within six years.

Source:
American Heart Association.
A report from the American Heart Association Statistics Committee and Stroke Statistics Subcommittee. Heart disease and stroke statistics - 2-6 update.
Circulation. 2006; 113: 85-151.

²
7 out of every 100 men and 6 of every 100 women will die suddenly within six years of having a heart attack.

Source:
American Heart Association.
A report from the American Heart Association Statistics Committee and Stroke Statistics Subcommittee. Heart disease and stroke statistics - 2-6 update.
Circulation. 2006; 113: 85-151.

² People who die without warning have often had another heart attack, a

stroke
You have a stroke when the blood supply to a part of your brain is cut off. This damages your brain and can cause symptoms like weakness or numbness on one side of your body. You may also find it hard to speak if you've had a stroke.

stroke or a sudden abnormal heart rhythm (known as an arrhythmia).
Almost half of all men and women younger than 65 who have had a heart attack die within eight years, but not necessarily from their heart attack.

Sources for the information on this page:

National Institute of Health, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.Act in TIME to heart attack signs.Available at http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/actintime (accessed on 11 November 2008).

American Heart Association.A report from the American Heart Association Statistics Committee and Stroke Statistics Subcommittee. Heart disease and stroke statistics - 2-6 update.Circulation. 2006; 113: 85-151.

This information was last updated on Apr 09, 2009

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