Cardiovascular disease is our nation’s leading cause of death, claiming more lives than the next three leading causes of death combined. It’s also our nation’s most prevalent illness, affecting about one of every three (33%) adults. And if current trends persist, prevalence will surpass 40% by 2030.
Cardiovascular disease is already a national health crisis, and its threat increases every day.
But it doesn’t have to be that way.
Cardiovascular disease doesn’t have to erode our quality of life. Its disabling effects don’t have to strike so many of us in the prime years of our lives. And it doesn’t have to place such an enormous burden on national healthcare costs.
In most cases, cardiovascular disease can be prevented by making simple, healthy lifestyle choices. Healthy lifestyles are our best weapon against risk.
Just like America’s Health Rankings® the American Heart Association urges people in every community to make risk factor prevention a priority. We’ve created a list of seven heart health factors and heart health behaviors that are the key to preventing cardiovascular disease. We call them “Life’s Simple 7.” They include regular physical activity, a healthy diet, avoiding cigarettes and other tobacco products, maintaining healthy levels of blood pressure, blood cholesterol, and blood sugar, and keeping your body mass index within a healthy range.
We’ve also created mylifecheck.heart.org, an online resource where you can assess your risk levels for each of Life’s Simple 7, and get a personal heart health score plus a plan for reducing your risk. Mylifecheck.heart.org has inspiring stories of people who have taken steps to improve their heart health, videos with tips from science experts, plus additional resources to learn more.
Two years ago, the American Heart Association set a goal to reduce cardiovascular disease deaths and also improve cardiovascular health in the United States by 20%, by 2020. There are lots of ways we’re working to achieve the goal. We’re urging everyone to take control of their own health by making Life’s Simple 7 a part of their everyday routine. Plus we’re funding scientific research, training people in CPR and other emergency cardiovascular care techniques, helping to improve the quality of care in hospitals, advocating for healthier public policies, and more.
While we’re working to address these challenges at home, it’s important to emphasize that the threat of cardiovascular disease isn’t limited to the United States. In fact, cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death worldwide. That’s why the American Heart Association supports World Heart Day, which will be held this year on September 29. On this day, people in nations around the world come together to raise awareness of cardiovascular disease and the power that each of us has to prevent it.
World Heart Day is an ideal opportunity to remind ourselves of why good cardiovascular health is so precious. The American Heart Association hopes people everywhere will keep this message in mind every day of the year.