I’m asking another question in today’s blog post: Do you know the health of your heart? I know I can be annoyingly curious, but I find asking questions is a great way to educate myself and others (if they’re interested).
It’s no surprise that February, the lovey-dovey month celebrating Valentine’s Day, is also designated as American Heart Month, which, for me, is a perfect segue to talk about health awareness.
The first American Heart Month took place in February 1964, as President Lyndon B. Johnson proclaimed via proclamation on December 30, 1963. By joint resolution on that date, the Congress requested the President to issue a proclamation designating February as American Heart Month annually.
For nearly 55 years, the staggering statistics of death from heart disease continue to escape the medical profession.
About two years ago, I joined a movement to end heart disease called The Health eHeart Study. Currently, 200,000 men and women participate in the lifestyle research study sponsored by cardiologists at the University of California at San Francisco UCSF. It’s free to participate.
The reason for this post is to encourage you to join the study to put a screeching stop to the number one killer. It’s easy to enroll, and all communication is online via surveys and email.
What to expect for the first e-visit after registering online:
Questions. Questions. And more questions, mostly about your medical health. You know there’ll be queries about sleep, exercise, and food choices. To answer the study’s health-related questions (you will need recent blood lab results for cholesterol, A1C – diabetes, and family history.
The possibility exists for assignment to a specific sub-study group. Here’s where technology is king: using apps and fitness devices to help keep you on track and heart healthy.
In the past, I wore a pedometer similar to my Fitbit. Since December, I have weighed in daily with a Shapa scale. The Shapa Scale is part fitness coach and part weight-loss app. The best feature of the scale isn’t about the numbers; it’s just your Shapa Color and Shapa age, which are more accurate metrics of your health and weight. I receive custom push notifications and reminders to weigh in daily.
The Goals of The Health eHeart Study:
❤️ Develop new and more accurate ways to predict heart disease based on measurements, behavior patterns, genetics, and family and medical history.
◊ Understand the causes of heart disease (including heart attack, stroke, heart failure, atrial fibrillation, and diabetes) and find new ways to prevent it.
❤️ Create personalized tools you can use yourself to forecast when you might develop heart disease or, if you have it already when you might be getting worse.
Things Investigating in The Health eHeart Study:
❤️ Can we predict heart disease based on measurements, behavior patterns (sleep, diet, activity,) and family and medical history? Can we look at everyday habits in real time to determine how they affect our cardiovascular health?
◊ Can we use technology to develop ways to improve cardiovascular health and rigorously test them to determine their effects on health? Can we use technology to help people live a more heart-healthy lifestyle?
❤️ Can we determine what causes episodes of atrial fibrillation? How do behaviors, diet, other diseases, and genes interact to produce it?
◊ Can we use mobile technology and sensors to keep people with heart failure out of the hospital?
❤️ Does being more connected with people improve heart health? Who are your friends, and how do you communicate with them? And, are online social networks as beneficial to health as real-world networks? Does more time spent on Facebook translate into more social connectedness and better health, or into more screen time, less exercise, and less time spent cooking healthy meals?
◊ Can we predict when heart disease, such as heart failure, coronary heart disease, or hypertension-high blood pressure, will get worse before someone needs hospitalization (and even before the patient knows something is wrong)?
❤️ Are people with different kinds of genes more vulnerable to particular heart disease risks? For example, alcohol may be “good” for heart health for some people but not others, and your genes might help us figure that out for you.
I know my heart health from yearly check-ups, daily exercise, a healthy diet, and nightly beauty sleep. The study is open to men and women over the age of 18 with or without heart disease. Join today to help end heart disease.
Thank you for reading. Have a healthy and stylish week.
The Smile, the coat, the booties make up this Fantastic look. Enjoy!
Neti,
Hi! My smile, the result of being happy when hubby and I found a place to get out of the snowstorm. My best outfits are when I shop what’s in my closet and find a new look. As always thank you for visiting.