February is American Heart Month. It’s a time when everyone, especially women, is encouraged to pay attention to cardiovascular health.
Become an insider. Subscribe to our newsletter for more top trending stories like this!
Each year heart disease kills almost 700,000 Americans. It’s among the top causes of death in the US. Most Americans are familiar with the pains of losing a loved one to a heart attack or coronary heart disease. However, there’s still hope. With the adoption of a healthy lifestyle, heart diseases can be prevented and lives can be saved.
Continue reading to discover lessons that can transform your cardiovascular well-being.
Join our Spotcovery Global Black Community Facebook Group for early access to exclusive content and to share in a lively discussion.
Overview of American Heart Month
Lyndon B. Johnson, the 36th President of the United States issued the first proclamation declaring February American Heart Month in 1964. The nation marks the celebration yearly to spotlight heart disease. This is done through creating awareness and educating people on steps to take to prevent this deadly disease.
During this commiseration government and non-governmental organizations organize seminars, and webinars, and share useful articles about heart disease. There’s a lot African Americans can learn from the month-long event.
People Also Read: Why Is Black History Month in February? 2 Reasons
American Heart Month Lessons For African Americans
Here are 5 key lessons you can learn from the Heart Month celebration:
Alcohol, Cannabis and the Heart
During the American Heart Month celebration, M-U experts, psychiatric, and addiction experts answer questions about how the use of alcohol or cannabis relates to heart disease. This information will help you as an African American to decide whether to stay off alcohol and cannabis or to continue consuming them.
How to Prevent Heart Disease
For health workers, every month is Heart Month. However, during February, they dedicate time and resources to educate the public about heart disease and how to prevent it.
As an African American, you can learn about how to eat healthy. This will help you to start making the right diet choices that include less processed foods and daily vegetables.
Menopause and Heart Health
Heart disease risk rises for everyone as they grow older. However, the years up to and after menopause are crucial times to carefully manage their health.
During Heart Month, African American women get to learn the relationship between menopause and Heart health. You’ll also learn of the various ways to care for your health during menopause.
People Also Read: National Adoption Month: What You Should Know
Become an insider. Subscribe to our newsletter for more top trending stories like this!
Exercise and Heart Health
Health experts recommend that you strive for at least two and a half hours weekly of physical activities. That translates to about 30 minutes most days of the week.
There are flexible ways you can break it down into smaller amounts of daily activity. The good thing is that even small amounts of daily activity can have lasting heart benefits.
American Heart Month presents African Americans with the opportunity to learn different physical activities that can help improve heart health. Health experts share this information for free during the celebration.
The Link Between Cholesterol, Blood Pressure and Heart Disease
Blood pressure and cholesterol are among the main risk factors that could lead to heart disease. During Heart Month, you’ll learn about the link between them. And you’ll also be able to check your cholesterol and blood pressure for free.
How to Celebrate American Heart Month
There are many ways you can participate in the Heart Month celebration. Here are the main four ways:
Wear Branded T-shirt
Buy a branded t-shirt from Amazon and wear it during the celebration period and also encourage your family and friends to do the same. This will help raise awareness that heart disease is the leading cause of death in the US and it can be prevented.
Educate People About Heart Disease
If you’re a medical professional, you can educate people about the causes of heart disease and ways to avoid it. You can organize seminars within your locality or host online webinars. Besides these two, you can also consistently share useful social media posts regarding heart disease.
Donate to Charity
You can also get involved by donating to healthcare organizations offering free medical treatments. This way more people will be able to access free medical treatments and checkups.
Attend Seminars and Webinars
Attending webinars and seminars is another way of participating in Heart Month. During the commiseration, many health bodies organize seminars and webinars to enlighten the public about heart disease. Try to attend any of the events. Also, don’t attend alone, invite your friends and family.
American Heart Month is an important commiseration that you need to take part in as an African American. It offers a lot of benefits and lessons. And we have covered five of those lessons.
People Also Read: People Also Read: American Diabetes Month: Why Black Americans Should Reduce Sugar Intake
Interested in watching the full article video? See below. Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more original, inspiring videos on the black experiences.
Become an insider. Subscribe to our newsletter for more top trending stories like this!
Nearly 80% of consumers visit directories with reviews to find a local business. List your business for free in our exclusive Spotcovery Black-Owned Business Directory.
Spotcovery offers unique and fresh daily content on Black culture, lifestyle, and experiences. We talk about everything black, black people, black-owned and black-owned businesses. We also deliver authentic and relevant content that will inform, inspire and empower you! The future of black media is critical to today’s black experience! Our primary audience includes African Americans, Africans, Afro-Caribbean, and people of African heritage. Black culture is for the culture!
