Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels. CVD includes coronary artery diseases such as angina and myocardial infarction (commonly known as a heart attack).
High blood pressure, high cholesterol and smoking are key risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Other medical conditions and lifestyle choices can also put people at a higher risk for heart disease including Diabetes and obesity.. Several other medical conditions and lifestyle choices can also put people at a higher risk for heart disease, including: Diabetes. Overweight and obesity.
According to the CDC, Heart disease is the leading cause of death for people of most racial and ethnic groups in the United States, including African American, American Indian, Alaska Native, Hispanic, and white men. For women from the Pacific Islands and Asian American, American Indian, Alaska Native, and Hispanic women, heart disease is second only to cancer. Below are the percentages of all deaths caused by heart disease in 2015, listed by ethnicity, race, and sex
According to the NIH, African Americans with atherothrombotic disease, mainly comprising African Americans from the United States (95%), had the highest rate of cardiovascular death among the ethnic/racial groups worldwide. In contrast, Asians had significantly lower rates of both all-cause mortality and cardiovascular death.
Ethnicity has been shown to be an independent predictor of various adverse cardiovascular outcomes in patients with atherothrombotic disease, including cardiovascular and all-cause mortality. Ethnic-specific variations in the treatment of atherothrombotic disease have been demonstrated despite adjustments accounting for risk factor variations, differences in access to care, adherence to medical therapies, and other socioeconomic factors.
My Health Matters aims to partner with willing participants to bring attention, awareness and focus to these diseases within minority and underserved regions within the United States