Heart Disease: The Cause of Death in One of Every Four Americans.

In 2015, 28.4 million Americans were diagnosed with heart disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) — that’s 11.7 percent of our population.

As the leading cause of death in the U.S., heart disease claims nearly 630,000 lives each year; more than one person dies from a heart-disease-related event every minute.

Coronary heart disease, the most common type, accounted for 366,000 deaths in 2015, while nonischemic heart disease is responsible for more than 15.3 million visits annually to health care providers, 1.9 million outpatient department visits, and about 852,000 emergency department visits.

Heart disease costs the U.S. about $200 billion each year. This includes the cost of health care services, medications, and lost productivity.

But there are things you can do to prevent or lessen your risk of high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke. Learn about them here: