In the United States, the leading cause of death isn't fatal car accidents, nor is it cancer. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) claims more lives in America every year than any other cause of death.  In fact, CVD causes nearly 10 times as many deaths per year (more than 800,000) than fatal car crashes (40,000) and cancer combined (44,000). The same translates to the state of Georgia, where CVD is just as prevalent - if not more so - than in many other U.S. states.

Just as on the national stage, CVD is the leading cause of death in Georgia. According to the Georgia Department of Community Health, over 21,000 people from the state died from CVD in 2007. That equates to nearly a third of Georgia's deaths from that year. Other key CVD facts in relation to Georgia include:

• As of 2006, Georgia's CVD death rate was 9 percent higher than the national rate.
  
• Men in Georgia are approximately 1.4 times more likely to develop CVD than women.
• African Americans in Georgia are approximately 1.3 times more likely to have CVD than whites.
• About 25 percent of all deaths in Georgia due to CVD are in people under 65.

 

In 2007, Georgia saw an estimated 144,000 hospitalizations due to CVD. The cost of the disease for 2007 in Georgia was approximately 11.2 billion dollars - if you combine the cost of direct health care and indirect costs.

For a disease that claims so many people In Georgia annually, the unfortunate reality is that many do not know how to reduce their risk of the disease. In fact, according to the 2006 Georgia Stroke and Heart Attack Awareness Survey, 2.3 million adults in Georgia are unaware of the modifiable risk factors for CVD.