Heart Month

The follow article titled Beyond Valentine’s Day from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and the American Heart Association was in the February 2008, Heart Care Heath Monitor newsletter.

           
Every February 14, we celebrate Valentine’s Day with heart-shaped symbols-greeting cards, candy boxes, jewelry, and other trinkets. Yet many people don’t realize that every day in February honors the heart.
Cardiovascular diseases include coronary artery disease, stroke, high blood pressure, among other diseases of the heart and the body’s blood vessel system. As a whole, they’re the leading cause of death in the U.S. Coronary artery disease alone is the number-one killer of men and women; stroke is third. Coronary artery disease is the narrowing and hardening of arteries in the heart due to a buildup of fatty deposits in these blood vessels.
Although there is no cure for cardiovascular disease (CVD), the medical world has made great strides in identifying its risk factors, giving people the opportunity for prevention. For those with CVD, a multitude of treatments are available to manage specific conditions.
People can’t take measures to prevent or delay the progression of CVD if they don’t understand the disease or the danger it presents. That’s why on December 30, 1963, at the request of Congress, U.S. president Lyndon B. Johnson proclaimed February to be American Heart Month. The designation was intended to recognize the importance of the ongoing fight against heart disease.
This fight is best undertaken by knowing the risk factors of CVD, many of which can be prevented or controlled. Significant among them are: High cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, smoking, overweight/obesity, physical inactivity, family history of early coronary artery disease, increasing age (45 and older for men; 55 and older for women.
In February 2003, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute launched a national awareness campaign, “The Heart Truth,” to spotlight the issues of CVD in women. The campaign’s symbol is a red dress. Each year, women and men alike are encouraged to wear articles of red clothing on the first Friday in February to help raise awareness of —and funding for —–women’s heart disease. The American Heart Association sponsors a related program, “Go Red for Women.”
For more information about Cardiac Health contact the Golden Valley Memorial Hospital Cardiac Rehab department at 660-890-7192.