Your heart pumps blood from your head to your toes, provides cells with fresh oxygen, and removes waste products. Located in the middle of your chest and tilted slightly to the left, your heart pushes out about 1.5 gallons (5.7 liters) of blood every minute to over 60,000 miles (97,000 kilometers) of blood vessels.
When things go wrong with the heart and circulatory system, the consequences can be dire. Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women in the U.S., where about 1 in 3 deaths is attributable to heart disease. In the U.S. alone, one person dies every 34 seconds from cardiovascular disease, and heart disease costs the country over $400 billion annually.
