Cardiovascular disease: a look at the numbers.

According to current estimates, more than 60,000,000 Americans -- over 25% -- have a cardiovascular disease (CVD). More than 50,000,000 have high blood pressure; over 13,000,000, coronary heart disease; almost 4,000,000, stroke; and more than 1,000,000, rheumatic heart disease. Among other significant statistics:

* Heart attack is the single largest killer of Americans.

* About every 20 seconds, someone will suffer a new or recurrent heart attack, and about every minute, someone will die from one.

* This year, as many as 1,500,000 Americans will have a new or recurrent heart attack and about one-third of them will die.

* At least 250,000 individuals a year die of heart attack within one hour of the onset of symptoms and before they reach a hospital.

* More than 13,000,000 people alive today have a history of heart attack, angina pectoris (chest pain), or both.

* Many studies show that the risk of death from heart disease is much greater for the least-educated than the most-educated.

*Based on the Framington Heart Study, five percent of all heart attacks occur in people under age 40 and 45% in those under age 65.

*Eighty-three percent of people who die of heart attack are age 65 or older.

* About 80% of coronary heart disease mortality in people under age 65 occurs during the initial attack.

* In 48% of men and 63% of women who died suddenly of coronary heart disease, there were no previous symptoms of this disease.

* From ages 35-74, the death rate from heart attack for black women is about two times that of white females and...