ABSTRACT

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) was the leading cause of deaths in 2004, or, in the same year, one of every ve deaths in the United States (Minino et al. 2006). Nearly 2,400 Americans die of CVD each day, an average of one death every 36 seconds. The CVD death rates in 2004 were 341.8 for males and 246.3 for females. Overall death rate from diabetes was 24.4. At least 65 percent of people with diabetes mellitus die of some form of heart disease or stroke (Rosamond et al., 2006). Diabetes increases the risk of stroke, with the relative risk ranging from 1.8 to almost 6.0. (Goldstein et al. 2001). The estimated direct and indirect cost of CVD in the United States for 2007 is $431.8 billion and $151.6 billion, respectively.