ISO - February 2010 e-Newsletter
When people hear the words ‘hearts’ and ‘February’, oftentimes people think of Valentine’s
Day, chocolate candy and flowery greeting cards. It’s important to remember, however,
that February and hearts are not always synonymous with having to find your significant
other a last-minute gift; February is American Heart Month, a month devoted to heart
health awareness in America. By taking some time this month to make yourself aware
of the actual enormity of the problem in the US (and abroad), you may also educate
yourself and others on how to lower the negative statistics and promote healthy
heart lifestyles.
According to the Center for Disease Control, heart disease is the number one cause
of death in America; approximately one American dies every minute from a cardiac
event1. Though improvements in treatment and being aware of signs and symptoms of
the disease are key, even more important is an emphasis on prevention and healthy
lifestyle choices. As students and scholars venturing out into the world, awareness
is essential to keeping yourself healthy, happy and conscious of a problem affecting
millions of people each year.
Everyone knows that eating healthfully, incorporating fruits and vegetables into
our diets, and cutting back on sodium is a great start to maintaining a healthy
weight and/or losing the weight that may be affecting our heart health either today
or down the road. Alcohol intake also needs to be monitored and the CDC suggests
if you drink alcohol, you drink no more than one drink per day if you're a woman
and two drinks per day if you're a man2. Smoking and secondhand smoke are also factors
in cardiovascular disease and nonsmokers exposed to secondhand smoke at home or
work (or even the football team’s most excellent campus party) “increase their risk
of developing heart disease by 25 to 30 percent and lung cancer by 20 to 30 percent”3.
Add ‘stop smoking’ to your list of things to do if this is an issue for you.
Campaigns for heart health awareness such as Go Red for Women and National Wear
Red Day have planned events in the past years that emphasize the importance of knowing
your risk factors and taking steps to prevent cardiovascular disease. In fact, since
1963, Congress has required the president to proclaim February "American Heart Month."4
The links below may be of some help discovering risk factors in your own life and
highlight ways to improve your own heart healthy knowledge:
- http://www.cdc.gov/features/heartmonth/
- http://www.cdc.gov/features/heartmonth/
- http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4521
- http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4441