Heart Disease *

What is heart disease?

Heart disease includes coronary artery disease, congestive heart failure, and heart attack. Coronary artery disease is the most common type of heart disease among adults. It happens when cholesterol builds up in your blood. Cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like substance that your body needs. But when you have too much cholesterol in your blood, it can build up on the walls of your arteries. The build-up of cholesterol in arteries is called plaque. Plaque can block the flow of blood to your heart, so your heart has to work harder. Sometimes, this block is bad enough to cause a heart attack or stroke. (Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2009)

Heart disease can make you have chest pain or be short of breath because not enough blood is getting to your heart. (Source: National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, 2009) Over time, coronary artery disease can weaken the heart muscle. This may lead to heart failure, a serious condition in which the heart cannot pump blood the way that it should. An irregular heartbeat, called an arrhythmia, can also develop. (Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2010)

Who is at risk for heart disease?
Both men and women are at risk for heart disease. It is the leading cause of death for men and women in the United States. (Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2010)

Risk factors for heart disease include:

• High cholesterol
• Being overweight or obese
• Diabetes
• High blood pressure
• Sleep apnea. This condition causes people to stop sleeping normally one or more times during the night and sometimes even stop breathing.
• Not exercising
• Stress
• Drinking too much alcohol
• Family history of heart disease (Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2009 and 2010)

How does heart disease affect our community?

• About 2 out of 10 people in the United States have coronary artery disease. (Source: American Heart Association, 2010)
• Nearly 165,000 people in Michigan stayed overnight in the hospital in 2006 because of heart disease. (Source: Michigan Department of Community Health, 2010)
• In Michigan, heart disease affects African American and White adult men more than African American and White adult women. (Source: Michigan Department of Community Health, 2010)
• African American men are more than twice as likely to die from heart disease as White women. (Source: Michigan Department of Community Health, 2010)

What is recommended care for heart disease?
If you have heart disease, be sure to get regular check-ups. Talk with your doctor about medicines, heart-healthy habits and the tests that are right for you. All people with heart disease should get the following tests:

• Blood pressure check
• Blood test for cholesterol level

You can use these quality reports to compare how well doctors' offices give recommended care for heart disease. The reports show how often patients got the recommended blood test for cholesterol and how often patients got at least one of the recommended medications. Higher scores are better.