by 
As 2013 draws to some close, the American Heart Association is reporting sobering statistics about cardiovascular disease and stroke.
The life-threatening conditions remain the top two killers of american citizens annually. Heart disease may be the leading reason for death, with stroke holding fourth place as a leading reason for death.
The news comes from the annual Disease and Stroke Statistical Update, produced by the AHA and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published now. The report gives the newest statistics on heart disease, stroke and other vascular diseases.
Among the findings, the report said that one American dies every 40 seconds from stroke and cardiovascular disease with more than 75 % of a million people dying annually.
Cancer is a major killer but is dwarfed by stroke and heart disease which claim more lives that all kinds of cancers combined.
A bright spot in the report found the amount of people who die from heart disease has dropped nearly 40 percent in the last 10 years. Many of those saved lives could be linked to a 28 percent increase in the amount of operations and clinical procedures sought off by heart patients. Federal data shows a lot more than 7.5 million procedures were performed between 2000 and 2010.
There was good news on the stroke front too with the number of deaths from stroke dropping almost 30 percent. However, someone still dies within the U.S. from stroke about every four minutes.
The AHA says the primary contributors to stroke and heart and vascular disease are smoking, high cholesterol levels, sedentary lifestyles, poor diet choices, hypertension, Diabetes type 2 and obesity.
Experts at the AHA and physicians say it’s vital for people to understand these contributing risks and make the lifestyle changes needed to prevent these life-threatening conditions.
