Preventive Treatment for Heart Attacks - Health Disparity: Heart Attacks

Preventive Treatment before a Heart Attack

Health Disparity: Heart Attacks

According to the 2010 from the Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA) World Factbook, the United States (U.S.) has the most powerful and technological economy in the world with an outstanding Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of $14.72 trillion and a per capita GDP of $47,400, it stands in second place, behind the European Union, compared to the rest of the world1. In 2006, the U.S. spent 15.3 percent on healthcare, the most of any country in the world2. As data shows, the U.S. spends more than any other country in the world in healthcare but, is the North American population healthy? In 2000, the World Health Organization (WHO) produced a ranking of the world's health systems, the U.S. ranked 37 out of 191 countries according to its performance3. If the U.S. spends more than any other country in the world in healthcare, why is the American population sicker than other countries?

The effects of America's uncontrolled spending on healthcare and misused of resources have led to many disparities among the health of its citizens. Table 1 will show, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the top ten causes of death in the United States4:

Table 1

Causes of Death Quantity

Heart disease 616,067

Cancer 562,875

Stroke (cerebrovascular disease) 135,952

Chronic lower respiratory diseases 127,924

Accidents (unintentional injuries) 123,706

Alzheimer's disease 74,632

Diabetes 71,382

Influenza and Pneumonia 52,717

Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, and nephrosis 46,448

Septicemia 34,828

Total 1,846,531

Top Ten Causes of Death in the United States, 2007

Source: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/lcod.htm

As the chart shows, the leading cause of death for Americans is heart disease, followed by cancer; these two diseases kill the most Americans every year. Heart disease is the leading causes of death, it kills 616, 067 Americans every year. Heart disease, or also known as cardiovascular disease, is a broad term to describe a range of diseases that affect the heart. The various diseases include diseases of your blood vessels, such as coronary artery disease; heart rhythm problems (arrhythmias); heart infections; and heart defects you're born with (congenital heart defects). Cardiovascular diseases are generally associated refers to conditions