Facts and Statistics About Heart & Bypass Surgery

The human heart is a muscular organ just behind your breastbone. It is about the size of a fist. The heart consists of ventricles, atria, valves, and several veins and arteries. Crucial to your survival, it pumps oxygen-rich blood throughout your body.

You may already be familiar with how important it is to keep your heart healthy with exercise and a well-balanced diet. However, you may not know some amazing facts about your heart. So, let’s dive in and learn everything about this vital organ. 

1. Your heart beats about 1,15,000 times and pumps 2,000 gallons of blood daily!
2. Wish to stretch out your blood vessel system? It would extend up to 60,000 miles - enough to travel worldwide TWICE! 
3. Ever wondered why your heart makes a beating sound? It’s the sound of the opening and closing of your heart valves. 
4. This one’s a jaw-dropper - The earliest case of heart disease was found in 3,500 years old Egyptian mummy!
5. Modesty prompted the innovation of a stethoscope. Earlier, doctors used to press their ears to the patient’s chest. 
6. From where did the iconic heart shape as a symbol of love emerge? From a silphium plant, which was an ancient form of birth control!

1. Your heart is quite literally a handful - the size of your two hands clasped together!
2. The human heart weighs less than a pound. But a man’s heart is almost 2 ounces heavier than a woman’s. 
3. A woman’s heart beats faster by almost eight beats a minute than a man’s. 

1. Laughter and positivity are the medicine for a good heart - they reduce stress and boost your immune system!
2. There is something even more dangerous than smoking for your heart - being inactive at the lowest level! 
3. A cardiac conduction system (an electric system) controls your heart rhythm.
4. As a result, your heart can continue beating even when separated from the body. 
5. Well, broken hearts are not really an exaggeration. Broken hearts are possible and can lead to temporary heart failure, though rare!
6. Heart cancer is rare because the heart cells stop dividing early in life. 

1. The fairy fly has the smallest heart among all living creatures. 
2. On the other hand, the blue whale has the largest heart of any mammal - weighing over 1,500 pounds!
3. Giraffes have a lopsided heart - their left ventricles are thicker than the right! Why? Because the left side of their heart gets the blood up to their long necks to reach the brain! 

1. The early pacemakers were plugged into a wall socket. But with increasing technology, pacemakers have evolved. They have become smaller and lighter and can be easily implanted in the person's chest without needing a wall socket!
2. The first implantable pacemaker was used back in 1958 for a patient named Arne Larsson. 

Now we know the most interesting facts about the heart. However, we cannot ignore the importance of keeping the heart healthy to avoid life-threatening conditions such as heart failure and heart attack. You may need heart bypass surgery to treat such conditions. But what is heart bypass surgery? Read on to find out

1. Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) result in most deaths worldwide.
2. In 2019, approximately 17.9 million people died from cardiovascular diseases, contributing to 32% of all global deaths. 
3. Of these 17.9 million people, 28% died from a stroke or heart attack.
4. More than three-quarters of these deaths take place in low and middle-income countries. 
5. According to the Global Burden of Disease, almost 24.8% of deaths in India are due to CVDs. 
6. In the age group of 25 to 69 years, CVDs accounted for 57% of total deaths. 
7. Almost 12% of people who have a heart attack die from it. 

1. The prevalence of CVDs in India ranges from 1.6% to 7.4% in the rural population and from 1% to 13.2% in the urban population. 
2. Patients with premature heart disease (before the age of 40) are more likely to smoke (63%), drink alcohol (32%), and use cocaine (13%), amphetamines (3%), and cannabis (12.5%). 

Smoking and Heart Disease Statistics

1. One of every five smoking-related deaths is caused by heart disease. 
2. People who smoke cigarettes are two to four times more likely to develop heart disease than those who don’t.

1. CABG is the most commonly performed major surgical procedure. 
2. About 4,00,000 heart bypass surgeries are performed every year. 
3. Approximately 2,00,000 surgeries are performed in the United States and 60,000 in India annually. 
4. Of all patients with coronary artery disease, 10% undergo the CABG procedure. 
5. The prevalence of CVD risk factors in patients undergoing bypass surgery include bad cholesterol (86%), hypertension (71%), obesity (51%), diabetes (48%), and smoking (40%). 
6. There is a 98% success rate of CABG in India, better than in most advanced countries. 
7. The survival rates for CABG patients are 92% at 5 years, 77% at 10 years, 40% at 20 years, 14% at 30 years, and 4% at 40 years. 
8. Women have small size of coronary arteries contributing to higher operative mortality (2.9% in women compared with 1.8% in men). 
9. According to the Cardiologists Society of India, there are only 5500 cardiologists available in India, i.e., one cardiologist for 30,000 people in the country. 
10. The average cost of coronary artery bypass graft surgery in India ranges roughly between Rs. 95,000 to Rs. 4,50,000. 

Cardiovascular diseases are the primary cause of morbidity and mortality. An early diagnosis of these diseases can be the difference between life and death. According to research, more than 40% of middle-aged adults have coronary artery disease without knowing it. Early intervention often addresses the problem before life-threatening symptoms develop and creates the best chance for survival. 

You can undergo heart screening tests to identify heart issues, preventing them from damaging your heart. HexaHealth’s expert team of doctors can help you get an early diagnosis of your condition so that the treatment can begin at the right time. Consult an HexaHealth expert to get yourself tested, especially if you have the following risk factors:

1. Older than 35 years of age
2. Family history of heart disease
3. High blood pressure
4. High cholesterol
5. Diabetes
6. Obesity
7. Unhealthy diet
8. Smoking