Million Hearts

In September 2011 the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services announced a campaign that has at its goal the reduction of heart attacks and strokes. Specifically, the CDC and the Centers for Medicare Services are teaming with the AHA, the YMCA, Walgreens and others to reduce the actual number of cardiovascular events by one million.  One million less by 2017.  Heart disease is currently the number one killer of Americans and it is in most part preventable. 
It is two months since the press release and I have not heard anything about this campaign.  I only read about it in a health publication this week.  The campaign is supposed to include an educational piece and I guess as a health educator myself, I can help out by sharing the information with my readers.
The website is another great place for you to get information. You will find some interactive tools on the webpage that can help you personally identify risk factors and strategies for prevention.
What I like best about this initiative is that it targets both prevention and treatment.  Improving care for people who already have high blood pressure or high cholesterol  with adequate medication is a treatment focus.  Reducing the numbers of persons who need to take medicine for blood pressure or high cholesterol (ever) is the preventative piece.
For treatment purposes, the initiative focuses on the ABCS.  You should recall that they stand for taking an aspirin a day, managing blood pressure and cholesterol, and quitting smoking.  Another goal of a Million Hearts is to reduce the current number of smokers by 4 million.  
So my two favorites are 1) keeping people from ever needing to take drugs (this is achieved through exercise, weight control, diets low in sat fat and sodium, avoiding excess alcohol and any tobacco smoke) and 2) four million fewer smokers :)


Again - there is a website with a lot of helpful information on the program and on heart health in general - Please click here.