NMPH: February is American Heart Month

Ada, MN — February is American Heart Month, a month dedicated to promoting awareness of your cardiovascular health. Tracy Johnson of Norman-Mahnomen Public Health, joined the Access Health Program this weekend to discuss ways we can improve our heart health and recognize the signs and symptoms of heart disease.

According to the CDC, heart disease refers to several types of heart conditions, the most common of which being coronary heart disease. Coronary heart disease affects blood flow to the heart, which can cause a heart attack. Symptoms of a heart attack can vary, but it commonly includes chest pain or discomfort, heartburn, shortness of breath, dizziness, and more. Johnson says that chest pain is the heart’s way of saying it needs more oxygen.

Risk factors of heart disease include high cholesterol, high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, smoking, and inactivity. Some other risk factors, such as age or family history, can’t be changed. However, for the risk factors that you can change, Johnson recommends taking baby steps to improve your heart health.

Heart disease is also the leading cause of death in women. Johnson greatly encourages women to do their part in taking care of themselves physically, mentally, and emotionally to reduce their risk.

Despite increases in awareness over the past decades, only about half (56%) of women recognize that heart disease is their number 1 killer. Heart disease killed 314,186 women in 2020—or about 1 in every 5 female deaths.

Listen to the full interview with Tracy Johnson from the Access Health Program below: