- Heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women. More than half of the deaths in men in 2009 were due to heart disease.
- Every year 720,000 Americans have a heart attack. Of these, 515,000 are a first heart attack and 205,000 happen in people who’ve already had a heart attack.
- High blood pressure, high LDL cholesterol and smoking are key risk factors for heart disease. About half of Americans (49 percent) have at least one of these three risk factors.
- People with high cholesterol have about twice the risk of heart disease as people with lower levels.
- High cholesterol has no symptoms so many people don’t know their cholesterol is too high. Talk with your healthcare provider regarding your screening options.
Are you ready to take the next step to ensure you have a healthy heart? Order a $55 Heart Health Lab Profile, which measures lipids, hs-CRP and homocysteine. This group of tests is used to assess the risk of coronary heart disease. The lipid test includes total cholesterol, HDL (high density lipoprotein cholesterol), often called “good cholesterol,” LDL (low density lipoprotein cholesterol), often called “bad cholesterol,” and triglycerides.