What is American Heart Month and Why Does it Matter?
Read on for important things we should all know about our #1 killer, heart disease!
February is American Heart Month and has been deemed a time when people should focus on their cardiovascular health. World Heart Day is September 29, by the way. So who decided February should be American Heart Month? President Lyndon B. Johnson declared it so in 1963, making February 1964 the first official American Heart Month. While announcing the first American Heart Month, President Johnson strongly encouraged, “the people of the United States to give heed to the nationwide problem of the heart and blood-vessel diseases, and to support the programs required to bring about its solution.” Unfortunately, in the almost sixty years since, not only has America not fixed this issue, heart disease is a global problem!
Heart disease is not only the #1 killer in the United States (CDC), it is also listed as the #1 leading cause of death globally by the World Health Organization!
Now that I have typed "American Heart Month" seven times, lets get to some stats!
10 Quick US Statistics Brought to us by the CDC:
Heart disease is the #1 leading cause of death.
One person dies every 36 seconds of cardiovascular disease.
Heart disease accounts for 1 in every 4 deaths in the US.
The US spent over $363 Billion on heart disease related healthcare per year, 2016-2017.
About 18.2 million American adults age 20 and older have coronary heart disease.
Coronary heart disease is the most usual type of heart disease, killing over 360,000 Americans in 2019.
About 2 out of each 10 deaths caused by coronary artery disease are in adults that are younger than 65 years old.
About every 40 seconds, someone in America has a heart attack.
Every year, over 800,000 Americans have a heart attack.
About 1 out of every 5 of these heart attacks is the silent type, meaning they happen and do damage, but the person is not aware at the moment.
What Increases Our Risk of Heart Disease?
There are a few major risk factors for heart disease, that include:
smoking
high blood pressure (hypertension)
high blood cholesterol
These are not the only things that can INCREASE our risk of the global #1 killer though. The following also put us at greater risk for heart disease:
being overweight or obese
diabetes mellitus
an unhealthy diet
lack of physical activity
too much alcohol consumption (the recommendations may be lower than you think!)
What Should we do to Help Ourselves?
There are several things we can do to help DECREASE our risk of heart disease, and other chronic diseases, including:
Quit smoking
Eat more plants (legumes, whole grains, veggies, fruits, mushrooms, nuts & seeds)
Eat less saturated fat (animal meats, cheese, desserts and sweets, coconut/palm oil)
Eat less sodium/salt (many highly-processed foods)
Eat less added sugar (in many foods and drinks, read the ingredients, they might surprise you)
Move our bodies more
Manage stress
Work with our doctors and other healthcare providers to improve our numbers (like A1C, total cholesterol, LDL/HDL, body fat %, blood pressure)
Want to Learn More?
Below are some of my favorite resources for creating a more healthful lifestyle!
Doctors in the lifestyle medicine space:
Caldwell Esselstyn, MD
Dean Ornish, MD
Neal Barnard, MD
Michael Klaper, MD
Michael Greger, MD
Check out their websites for more free resources, like recipes, and links to their books, etc.
Books that are worth the read or the listen:
How Not to Die by Michael Greger, MD
Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease: The Revolutionary, Scientifically Proven, Nutrition-Based Cure by Caldwell Esselstyn, MD
Whole by T. Colin Campbell, PhD
The Proof Is in the Plants by Simon Hill
Becoming Vegan: Comprehensive Edition by Brenda Davis, RD and Vesanto Melina, MS, RD
Nourish by Reshma Shah, MD, MPH and Brenda Davis, RD
Your Body in Balance by Dr. Neal Barnard
The Longevity Diet by Valter Longo, PhD
Eat to Beat Disease by William Li, MD
Fiber Fueled by Will Bulsiewicz
The Audible app is great way to consume books while walking, driving, or cleaning the house!
Prefer a visual? Check out:
Dr. Michael Greger on YouTube at NutritionFacts.org
Dr. Neal Barnard and PCRM on YouTube at Physicians Committee
What next?
Stay tuned in as I continue to provide heart-healthy information, including 3 Zero-Proof Cocktail Recipes, 5+ Heart-Healthy Foods, and a meal prep-friendly, recipe to pull those foods and more together in one big bowl!
With Love, Kathleen
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