More than 600,000 Americans die each year from heart disease, regardless of gender, ethnicity and age. Some underlying factors include high levels of cholesterol, smoking, alcohol, diabetes and high blood pressure. February is recognized as American Heart Month, not only in conjunction with hosting Valentine’s Day, but to help build awareness for maintaining a healthy heart as well.
Hence, the weeklong event, Heart Failure Awareness Week, which runs from Sunday, February 14 – Saturday, February 20, this year. The month is meant to launch activities, link up organizations and support taking action to build efforts in promoting heart failure awareness, heart failure prevention and patient education.
The human heart serves as the decision maker. It supplies vital oxygen and nutrients in flowing the blood throughout our bodies, but also helps in removing unwanted waste and toxins. A heart attack can affect people differently. In fact, 1-in-5 people have one without knowing it. Heart attacks can also include different symptoms among men and women, including pain in the back, arm and neck. Additionally, younger women, under the age of 50, are twice as likely to die from a heart attack than men of the same age. Scientists attribute a rhythmic change in our circadian over the weekend to the fact that more heart attacks occur on a Monday than any other day. Lastly, if you drink at least one diet soda each day, you are 43% more likely to have a heart attack than those who don’t drink it regularly.
Ways to Get Involved for Heart Failure Awareness Week
- Know the symptoms of heart attack and stroke, courtesy of the American Heart Association (AHA), so you can help assist others in times of crisis.
- The AHA has numerous volunteer opportunities in your community. Find opportunities, HERE.
- Stay involved by following the Heart Failure Society of America (HFSA) on social media, while also utilizing the hashtags, #HFWeek2021, #HFChat2021 and #HFA365. In fact, the HFSA has a readily available social media toolkit, containing infographics and sample posts.
- Take advantage of being able to use the HFSA 2021 turnkey kit to plan your own virtual event.
- Give blood. There are an estimated 13,000 daily donations needed to maintain a necessary abundance of blood supply in the U.S., alone. You can actually donate every eight weeks.
For more ways you can help the HFSA build heart failure awareness, click HERE. Be sure to also check out everything the American Association of Heart Failure Nurses (AAHFN) has to offer as well.
MedPro International medical technologists and laboratory scientists all assist in performing complex procedures, including research, implants, pacemakers, defibrillators and for tests in diagnosing heart disease. Our valued essential frontline workers are there to help promote heart health among patients.
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