Top 10 Facts and Figures on Heart Attacks

What is Heart Attack?

A heart attack is the death of the heart muscle due to a loss of blood supply caused by blockage in one or more of the coronary arteries. It is also known by other terms like�myocardial infarction, acute myocardial infarction, coronary thrombosis, and coronary occlusion (1^✔ ✔Trusted Source
Heart Attack Symptoms, Risk, and Recovery

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Heart attacks can be life-threatening; therefore, it is important to be aware of warning signs. Most people who die of a heart attack die within the first hour after the onset of the symptoms. Hence, it is important to identify the symptoms of a heart attack and seek immediate medical attention to lessen the amount of damage to the heart and prevent death.

Measures like�cardiopulmonary resuscitation�(CPR) and thrombolytic drugs (clot buster), when given early during the onset of the heart attack, can help save the patient�s life (2^✔ ✔Trusted Source
Heart attack

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10 Interesting Facts about Heart Attacks

Statistics on Heart Attacks

1. A�heart attack�is one of the leading causes of unexpected deaths in the U.S. It is estimated that every 40 seconds, someone in the U.S. has a heart attack (3^✔ ✔Trusted Source
   Heart Disease Facts
   
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2. It has emerged as the No.1 killer disease in both rural and urban areas. Every year, 17.9 million lives are lost to this dreaded disease (4^✔ ✔Trusted Source
   Cardiovascular diseases
   
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3. Heart disease is the single largest cause of death in India. It has been estimated that 80% of all�cardiovascular disease�deaths have occurred in lower-middle-income countries (5^✔ ✔Trusted Source
   Growing Epidemic of Coronary Heart Disease in Low- and Middle-Income Countries
   
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4. Every year, approximately 805,000 Americans are estimated to have heart attacks. Of these, almost 605,000 people have had a heart attack for the first time, while rest 200,000 people, have already had their�first heart attack (6^✔ ✔Trusted Source
   Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention
   
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5. Approximately 7.6 million people are estimated to be living with some form of cardiovascular disease in U.K. Every 3 minutes, someone in the UK has a heart attack (7^✔ ✔Trusted Source
   Facts and figures
   
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6. Heart attacks have been the leading cause of death for women in the U.S. Every year, 1 in 5 American women dies of heart disease (8^✔ ✔Trusted Source
   Lower Your Risk for the Number 1 Killer of Women
   
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7. Almost two-thirds (64%) of women who die suddenly of�coronary heart disease�have no previous symptoms, which means that even if you have no symptoms of a heart attack, you may still be at risk of developing one (9^✔ ✔Trusted Source
   Common Myths About Heart Disease
   
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8. According to the Women�s Heart Foundation (WHF), women who are less than 50 are twice as likely to die from a heart attack as men of the same age range, mostly because women are more likely to ignore warning signs (10^✔ ✔Trusted Source
   Women and Heart Disease
   
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Silent Heart Attack

9. A heart attack may not always occur with the obvious symptoms of�chest pain, shortness of breath, or cold sweats. It can happen to individuals without any indication; thereby it is sometimes also referred to as a silent heart attack (11^✔ ✔Trusted Source
   The danger of "silent" heart attacks
   
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Coronary Artery Disease

10. Coronary artery disease is considered to be the most common cause of heart attack, whereas severe spasm or contraction of the coronary artery is a lesser known cause (12^✔ ✔Trusted Source
    Coronary Artery Spasm
    
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