Happy Hearts Day

February 12, 2012

February is National Heart Health month and my favorite holiday … Valentine’s Day!  It is also the time to start thinking of a kick-start to the “Summer-Shape UP’ many of us do each year.  With your mind on your heart, not only for Valentine’s Day, but for cardiovascular conditioning as well…perhaps its time to improve your heart health. 

Heart disease takes the lives of far too many people in this country, depriving the families and friends of someone they love and care for—a father, a mother, a wife, a friend, a neighbor, a spouse. With more than 2 million heart attacks and strokes each year, and 800,000 heart related deaths, just about all of us have been touched by someone who has had heart disease, a heart attack, or a stroke.

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the United States; one in every three deaths is from heart disease and stroke, equal to 2,200 deaths per day. SCARY! These conditions are also leading causes of disabilities that prevent people from working and enjoying family activities. Cardiovascular disease also carries a hefty price tag—together heart disease and stroke hospitalizations in 2011 cost the U.S. more than $444 billion in health care expenses and lost productivity. STAGGERING!

We can fight back against heart disease and stroke. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) and has launched Million Hearts™, to provide information to help empower people to make heart-healthy choices. Drive the initiative by challenging your family and friends to take the Million Hearts™ pledge at www.millionhearts.hhs.gov.

Show your Valentine and your heart some love this February and get F.I.T. You’ll be glad you did.

In good health

Bob

Life is not merely to be alive, but to be well. – Marcus Valerius Martial