Health Legacy of Cleveland encourages you to:

Be more vigilant than ever about your overall health during the pandemic.  Take up heart-healthy habits like staying active by increasing your daily steps (if medically possible).  Avoid overeating, which can be challenging for people that find themselves working from home.   Eating foods with lower cholesterol and lower sodium are great for your weight loss and also factor into a healthy cardiovascular system.  It is important to get cholesterol and blood pressure screenings on a regular basis. It is also important to understand what your screening results mean in terms of preventing heart disease.

2022 CDC’S Heart Month Information:

Available at:

American Heart Month Toolkits 2022 | cdc.gov

https://www.cdc.gov 

For addressing barriers to health equity in communities disproportionately affected by cardiovascular disease:

February is a time when all people can focus on their cardiovascular health. The Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention is shining a light on hypertension (high blood pressure) as a leading risk factor for heart disease and stroke.

Americans at Risk for Heart Disease

Key Risk Factors:

Several other medical conditions and lifestyle choices can also put people at a higher risk for heart disease, including:

The above situations can impact the heart:

As plaque builds up in the arteries of a person with heart disease, the inside of the arteries begins to narrow, which lessens or blocks the flow of blood. Plaque can also rupture (break open). When it does, a blood clot can form on the plaque, blocking the flow of blood.

Heart Disease in the United States

  • Heart disease is the leading cause of death for men, women, and people of most racial and ethnic groups in the United States.1
  • One person dies every 36 seconds in the United States from cardiovascular disease.1
  • About 659,000 people in the United States die from heart disease each year—that’s 1 in every 4 deaths.2
  • Heart disease costs the United States over $363 billion each year.

References

  1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Underlying Cause of Death, 1999–2018. CDC WONDER Online Database. Atlanta, GA: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; 2018. Accessed March 12, 2020.
  2. Virani SS, Alonso A, Aparicio HJ, Benjamin EJ, Bittencourt MS, Callaway CW, et al. Heart disease and stroke statistics—2021 update: a report from the American Heart Association external icon. 2021;143:e254–e743.
  3. Fryar CD, Chen T-C, Li X. Prevalence of uncontrolled risk factors for cardiovascular disease: United States, 1999–2010 pdf icon[PDF-494K]. NCHS data brief, no. 103. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics; 2012. Accessed May 9, 2019.
  4. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics. About Multiple Cause of Death, 1999–2019. CDC WONDER Online Database website. Atlanta, GA: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; 2019. Accessed February 1, 2021.
  5. Heron, M. Deaths: Leading causes for 2017pdf icon. National Vital Statistics Reports;68(6). Accessed November 19, 2019.