What better time than the month dedicated to love to focus on the heart?

Not the iconic image dropped at the end of text messages or scribbled in love notes, but the organ — the one that receives blood and pumps it to the lungs.

Caring for the heart is something many of us need to work on. According to the American Heart Association, cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death worldwide, claiming more lives each year than all forms of cancer combined. It accounts for an estimated 17.3 million deaths per year, more than 787,000 in America in 2011. That number’s expected to grow to more than 23.6 million by 2030.

Statistics paint no better of a picture for Minnesotans. In a 2011 report, the state Department of Health found approximately 139,000 Minnesotans (3.5 percent of adults) have coronary heart disease and over 90,000 (2.3 percent of adults) have had a stroke.

And while the same report shows Minnesotans lag behind the rest of the nation in heart disease and stroke mortality rates — and the death rates declined from 2000 to 2009 — the numbers are still staggering. More than 2,000 Minnesotans died of a stroke in 2009. Another 7,233 died from heart disease that same year.

The good news? There are seven simple ways to reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease.

They include lifestyle changes: quitting smoking, getting regular exercise, losing weight and eating a healthy diet, meaning cutting back on salt and eating more whole grains.

The remaining three aren’t always so simple, requiring something otherwise “healthy” Americans don’t often do: see a doctor. Keeping blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar in check start with learning your numbers then making changes if necessary to get and keep them within an acceptable range.

This month, show your loved ones how much you care about them. Start taking better care of your heart. And encourage them to do the same.

 

— Owatonna People’s Press, Feb. 12