Awareness of Heart “Awareness Month”

According to easilyamused.org, February is National “National Awareness Month” Awareness Month! (see lists on this page)   February is National Heart Disease Awareness Month. Our CDC.gov warns us of the “big one”, as Fred Sanford often feared on TV: that he was having a heart attack.

Yes heart attacks are as big as is gets when you look at what kills Americans. It’s the number one killer; every minute someone in the U.S. dies of a heart attack! Many of these .5 million victims could have been spared with medical identification and treatment. Death does not come to all 1.5 million who went through a heart attack. Often this is because they were under some medical treatment, had time to take a full aspirin or were brought back by a publically placed automatic defibrillator.

Damage to the electrical heart rhythm causes deadly fibrillation. All heart attacks damage heart muscle but all do not cause deadly rhythms and are survivable. But afterwards many suffer heart failure. Let’s be aware of that these coronary events are happening in our country every 25 seconds.


          Risks for a Heart Attack______
Prior heart attack / stroke / heart failure
Arrhythmia / peripheral artery disease
High cholesterol / unhealthy diet / physical inactivity
High blood pressure / obesity / diabetes or pre-diabetes
Tobacco use / secondhand smoke

__________Signs of a Heart Attack__________
Chest discomfort, pressure, squeezing, fullness, or pain
May be sudden and intense but most start slowly with mild pain or discomfort
Discomfort is not always in the center of the chest: also arm, back, neck, jaw, or stomach
Typically lasts more than a few minutes and comes back
Shortness of breath even without chest discomfort
A cold sweat, nausea or lightheadedness

     Often people affected aren't sure what's wrong and wait too long before getting help.
When you know there’s a problem, call 911;
when you’re not sure then STILL CALL 911.
Usually if the person is awake, the 911 operator will advise giving the person a full aspirin (this is equal to four low-strength aspirins). Every second counts because the person could go into a deadly fibrillation, which needs to be shocked back within minutes to prevent problems.

Check out CDC’s website, but possibly the advice is not cutting-edge in what can be done for prevention. Sure, get exercise and eat healthy, but cutting out fats and sugars in the diet is a simplistic approach. See your doctor (health care provider) and ask what else can be done. There are advance lab and ultrasound tests available to individualize what you need. (see atherotech.com and vasolabs.com)

Women need to actively seek prevention for heart disease. Just because your HDL (the good cholesterol) is high does not mean you are not at risk; the expected normal range for women’s HDL is higher than for men. Just because men often get heart attacks younger, and women live to be older, there are more women ultimately dying from heart attacks and resultant heart failure.

CDC.gov: awareness that women account for half of heart disease deaths and is the leading cause of death among women aged over 64. (and 2nd leading cause for 45-64).

WomensHeart.org: awareness that 1/4th of a million women die from heart attacks, six times more than from breast cancer.

AmericanHeart.org: “Go Red For Women” - awareness from the American Heart Association that “celebrates the energy, passion, and power that women have to band together and wipe out heart disease.” & “The color red …is linked to women improving their heart health and living longer and stronger”

WomensHealth.gov: “The Heart Truth Campaign” - awareness campaign for women about heart disease. "Heart Disease Doesn't Care What You Wear, It is the #1 Killer of Women."

National Wear Red Day is on Friday, February 4th this year; wear that favorite red dress, shirt, tie or just put on the pin with the red dress picture. Men also can support this awareness.

 So now you know why we’re all wearing red, since you have read my awareness of awareness article!



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February is Black History Month

but also it is

National Cancer Prevention Awareness Month
National School-Based Health Center Awareness Month
National Age-Related Macular Degeneration Awareness Month

National Body Awareness Month
National Electrical Safety Awareness Month
National Heartworm Awareness Month

National Low Vision Awareness Month

National Pet Dental Awareness Month
National Safety Awareness Month
National Sinus Pain Awareness Month

National Termite Awareness Month



And ThinkQuest.org, reminds us that in February we need to be aware of it being:


National Embroidery Awareness Month
National Blah Buster Awareness Month
National Grapefruit Awareness Month
National Snack Food Awareness Month
National Weddings Awareness Month
National Responsible Pet Owner Awareness Month

National Return Carts to the Supermarket Awareness Month
National Creative Romance Awareness Month
National International Twit Award Awareness Month
National Canned Food Awareness Month



. . . And don’t forget it’s also National Bird-Feeding Month