Diseases of the heart, arteries and blood vessels are the number-one killer in Fayette County, in Georgia and in the United States. Last year 174 people in Fayette County died from heart disease and stroke. Cardiovascular disease includes heart attacks, congestive heart failure, stroke, congenital heart defects and rheumatic heart disease. Someone dies from cardiovascular disease every 33 seconds.

According to the Center for Disease Control, last year more than 23,000 died from diseases of the heart, arteries and blood vessels in Georgia. That totals more than all the deaths from the next five leading causes of death combined. After heart disease and stroke, the top killers are cancer, injury, respiratory disease, AIDS and then diabetes, in that order. The number of heart and stroke deaths was close to double the number of deaths from cancer.

Stroke is the leading cause of serious, long-term disability. In January of this year, the American Heart Association renamed its Stroke Division the “American Stroke Association” (ASA). The ASA division is devoted exclusively to stroke. It is not a separate organization, but it is a division of the AHA. In 1998 the AHA spent $57 million for stroke initiatives. Currently research is being funded on acute treatments for stroke, genetic factors of stroke and how stroke rehabilitation affects the brain's functions and other areas.

The American Heart Association is the largest non-profit organization fighting cardiovascular disease in the nation and the largest non-governmental investor in heart research. The AHA also spends a larger percentage of its budget on research than any other major health organization, currently 32.4 percent of its budget. Close to 25 percent of the budget is used for public health education, approximately 14 percent for community service and 5.5 percent for professional education. Just under fifteen percent goes for fund raising and 9 percent for management costs.

For more information, call Mary O'Conner at 770-730-8440 or go to http://www.americanheart.org/southeast/.

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