Something important missing in February

 There are a lot of events in February; Black History Month, Valentines day, Presidents day, and even weather ( Yes I meant to spell it this way)or not spring will come early or not!  Whew!  That's a lot for the shortest month of the year.  

While I'm all for celebrating some of our Citizens, unending love, our forefathers, and warmer weather, I've noticed something missing that is also important.  In fact, in can be life and death important.

February is also Heart Disease awareness month.  Seems fitting, but sadly in the first 2 weeks of this full month, nary a peep I've heard. 

So since no one else will talk about it, I will.  

1)  Heart disease is the leading cause of death in both men and women of all races and ethnicities.  Greater than even Breast cancer ladies.  So while you're concerned about "the girls", think about what's behind them too.

2)  1 in 4 Americans die each year from Heart Disease.  The CDC estimates that's 655,000 Americans.  Hmm greater than the fatalities of Covid in the US this past year.  Where's the outcry?  Maybe there should have been at least some focus on Heart Disease awareness after all.

3)  Someone has a heart attack every 40 seconds in the US.  The CDC estimates 805,000 people have a heart attack in the US each year.  Of these the CDC estimates approximately 600,000 of these are first attacks.  Here's the kicker; 1 in 5 of all attacks are silent.  The damage is done, but the person isn't aware. 

4)  Lets bring it a little closer to home.  If someone is Obese, has diabetes, has a bad diet, and/or has no physical activity; they are at risk for heart disease.  That means any or all of these.  You can be thin and still out of shape FYI.  Yes the chances are greater if you are obese, mainly because if you are it means you more than likely have more than one of these risk factors.  

5)  If your father had a heart attack before the age of 50, or your mother had a heart attack before the age of 65, then you have a family history.  That means you can have a genetic disposition to heart disease.  My father had his first attack at 50.  I had mine at the age of 51.  My kids now have a family history.  

6)  Many peoples first symptom of a heart attack is death.  

Have I scared you?  I'm not posting this to instill fear.  I'm posting this to educate.  We have cities in lock down; mandated or self imposed, wearing masks, losing jobs, etc, for a virus that has killed fewer people than heart disease.  The irony of this is some of the main things closed are gyms!  In some places people have no choice but to sit at home and eat.   That's their entertainment! Try exercising at home with kids.  Yea, not fun.

I'm waiting for the powers that be to focus on our maintaining good health, which in turn can help with surviving this current virus.  

Heart disease doesn't have a vaccine we can vie for.  You have to do the work.  Watch what you eat, move.  Don't smoke, Vape, Drink alcohol, Eat Junk, etc.  We don't have to become one of these statistics. In fact, better than that, we can change these and bring them down!  So what do you think?

CDC facts