Cardiovascular Diseases

Cardiovascular disease, including coronary heart disease (CHD), rheumatic heart disease, and hypertensive heart disease, are public health concerns throughout the world. Globally, more than 17 million people die of cardiovascular disease every year, with over 80 percent of those deaths occurring in low- and middle-income countries. Heart disease is the most common cause of death in the United States. In 2006, of the 631,636 total deaths recorded in the country, 26 percent were caused by heart disease. Many of the risk factors for cardiovascular disease are behavioral and include diet, exercise, and tobacco use. There is great interest in the scientific and medical communities to identify ways the environment relates to the risk factors for, and incidence of, heart disease. For instance, quality of diet ...