American Heart Association

Before the American Heart Association existed, people with heart disease were considered to be doomed to complete bed rest – or worse. But a handful of pioneering physicians and social workers believed it didn’t have to be that way. They conducted studies to learn more about heart disease, eventually leading to the founding of the American Heart Association in 1924.  

“We were living in a time of almost unbelievable ignorance about heart disease,” said Paul Dudley White, one of six cardiologists who founded the organization.

The early American Heart Association enlisted help from hundreds, then thousands, of physicians and scientists. The association reorganized in 1948, transforming from a scientific society to a voluntary health organization composed of both science and lay volunteers and supported by professional staff. Since then, the American Heart Association has grown rapidly in size and influence – nationally and internationally.

In 1975, the headquarters moved from New York City to Dallas to be more centrally located. Volunteer-led affiliates formed a national network of local organizations providing research funding, education, community programs and fundraising.

In the 1980s, the association became a much more visible champion of public health, starting advocacy efforts that remain active today locally across America in all 50 states and in Washington D.C. Large gifts allowed the association to support new research projects and education programs, including more efforts to address heart disease and stroke in women and minorities.

The 1990s were a time of great change. In 1997, the confederation of separately incorporated affiliates merged into a single corporation. That year, the American Heart Association also created the American Stroke Association and another division dedicated to CPR training and other emergency cardiac care.

Our scientific findings began to move from laboratories and clinics to physician’s offices and American households. The association took positions on important health issues. And despite strong opposition from the tobacco industry, the American Heart Association continued to advocate for the public, especially children.

By 2000, the American Heart Association had established its first 10-year Impact Goal for the entire nation: to reduce coronary heart disease, stroke and risk factors by 25 percent by 2010.

The goals for reducing deaths were exceeded. However, with national trends such as increasing obesity and sedentary lifestyles, it was evident we still had much more work to reduce risks. And that drove the association to set an aggressive 2020 Impact Goal for the nation: To improve the cardiovascular health of the entire nation by 20 percent by 2020, while reducing deaths from cardiovascular diseases and stroke by 20 percent.

Today, the American Heart Association works toward that goal in a multitude of ways, as the nation’s oldest and largest voluntary health organization devoted to fighting heart disease and stroke.

The association is a leader in public health education and science. We are focused on science and research, healthy living and environments, treatment and education and emergency and hospital care. We provide CPR training to more than 18 million people a year in 80 countries. Our conferences and our journals provide critical knowledge to thousands of healthcare professionals. Our professional membership includes more than 32,500 members representing 114 countries and 74 specialties. We are helping to build a culture of health where the healthy choice is the easy choice, working with individuals, schools, lawmakers, healthcare providers, employers and others to ensure everyone has access to healthier lifestyle choices and proper health care.

The association continues to be true to its scientific roots, funding more cardiovascular research than any U.S. organization aside from the government. We have funded 13 Nobel Prize winners and numerous scientific breakthroughs. The new knowledge and advances that result from our research benefit millions of lives in every corner of the U.S. and around the world. The research findings made possible by the AHA are translated into guidelines which give healthcare providers the medical advancements and knowledge they need to most effectively treat cardiovascular and cerebrovascular illnesses. The association is committed to innovative, transformational, global thinking and approaches in its mission to build healthier lives, free of cardiovascular diseases and stroke.