February is a month marked by red hearts and Valentine’s Day expressions of love. And since 1964, February has also been the month Americans are reminded to show a little love for their hearts, too.
American Heart Month’s primary goals are to educate the public about heart health risk factors and the seriousness of heart disease as well as to help people understand what they can do to boost their own heart health.
Though American Heart Month is just 1 month out of the year, the AHA and other medical organizations want to encourage people to adopt a heart-healthy lifestyle and show some self-care for their hearts all year-round.
American Heart Month should be a national activity to remind you back to a heart-healthy lifestyle as most of us will disrupted the pace of life during the New Year holiday. Some keys to cardiovascular health include:
- Managing your blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood glucose (sugar) levels.
- Eating a Mediterranean diet or Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet.
- Following the AHA’s exercise guidelines of 150 minutes a week of moderate intensity exercise or 75 minutes a week of vigorous intensity exercise.
- Getting 7 to 9 hours of sleep each night.
- Maintaining a moderate weight.
- Managing stress in healthy ways.
- No smoking or starting to quit smoking if you do.
During COVID-19, we may prepare some home use medical devices or telemedicine systems for chronic disease patients. Monitoring blood pressure , blood sugar and blood oxygen should be recognized to be part of our daily life.
Do you have the above heart-healthy lifestyle?
