February is American Heart Month. This year also marks the 10th year of the American Heart Association’s “Go Red for Women” movement.
Because the initiative to raise heart health is everywhere you look, you might be thinking you don’t really need to read this article, especially if you’ve never had heart issues. But don’t turn away; at least check out these staggering statistics from The Heart Foundation:
• Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. People of all ages and backgrounds can get the condition.
• Every 33 seconds, someone in the United States dies from cardiovascular disease, which is roughly the equivalent of a September 11-like tragedy repeating itself every 24 hours, 365 days a year.
• Coronary heart disease is the most common type of heart disease, killing more than 385,000 people annually.
• Every year, about 935,000 Americans have a heart attack. Of these, 610,000 are a first heart attack. 325,000 happen in people who have already had a heart attack.
• Coronary heart disease alone costs the United States $108.9 billion each year. This total includes the cost of health care services, medications, and lost productivity.
• 250,000 Americans die annually of sudden cardiac death – 680 every day of the year.
• Half of the victims of sudden cardiac death are under the age of 65.
• An estimated 80 million Americans have one or more types of heart disease.
• About 8.9 million Americans have chest pain (angina) caused by reduced blood flow to the heart muscle, which occurs when the coronary arteries become blocked with a build-up of plaque.
• Women account for just over half of the total heart disease deaths in the United States each year, although many women continue to think of heart disease as a man’s disease.
• 435,000 American women have heart attacks annually; 83,000 are under age 65; 35,000 are under 55.
• 267,000 women die each year from heart attacks - six times more than the number of women who die from breast cancer.
If those facts and figures don’t get your heart pumping, then I don’t know what will! Heart disease is serious business. It’s something we all need to take into consideration and loose the “it won’t happen to me” attitude.
We need to realize that heart disease in men and women are not the same. Women, if you’re thinking, “Walk for the Cure” is all you need to do for your health, you’re dead wrong – no pun intended. We can live without breasts – we can’t live without a heart.
Push away the gravy-laden Chicken Fried Steak and other heavy cholesterol dishes. Lose the salt. Start exercising. Start walking. Everyone – let’s get on board to a healthier America. A healthier you. Don’t become one of the statistics mentioned above.