ABSTRACT
Cardiovascular disease claimed 953,110 lives in the United States in 1997, the latest year for which complete data were available at the time of this writing. Cardiovascular disease was about 60% of total mentioned mortality, which means that of the more than 2,000,000 deaths from all causes, cardiovascular disease was listed as a primary or contributing cause on over 1,406,000 death
certificates in 1997. Since 1900, cardiovascular disease has been the No. 1 killer in the United States every year but 1918. More than 2600 Americans die each day of cardiovascular disease,
an
average of one death every 33 s
. Cardiovascular disease claims more lives each year than the next seven leading causes of death combined (American Heart Association,
2000 Heart and Stroke Statistical Update
, Dallas, TX, American Heart Association, 1999). Given such information, can anyone in good conscience conclude that we have spent enough
money and time investigating this disease? In this chapter I wish to expose the reader to new data on an old compound. Acetaminophen, an active ingredient in many popular over-the-counter pain relievers, has been used in clinical medicine for more than 100 years.
