AHA Joins Forces with Million Hearts®

American Heart Association/American Stroke Association is proud to join forces with Million Hearts® to build healthier lives, free of cardiovascular diseases and stroke.

Million Hearts® is a national initiative to prevent 1 million heart attacks and strokes by 2017. Million Hearts® brings together communities, health systems, nonprofit organizations, federal agencies, and private-sector partners from across the country to fight heart disease and stroke.  Million Hearts® focuses on the prevention of heart attacks and strokes through achieving excellence in the ABCS (Aspirin when appropriate, Blood pressure control, Cholesterol management, and Smoking cessation).

The Healthy North Dakota Statewide Visioning and Strategy core leadership along with strategic partners and stakeholders are proposing a multi-year public/private hypertension as a key wellness and prevention strategy.  The initiate aims to increase the percentage of North Dakotan’s who have their blood pressure under control.   The initiative also provides expanded smoking cessation support. The initiative will drive a culture of healthy by collaborating on best practices and measurable new strategies for employee, healthcare and community engagement. 

Cardiovascular disease is responsible for 1 out of every 3 deaths in the country.  Hypertension, also called high blood pressure, is a leading cause of heart disease and stroke, is estimated to contribute or cause nearly 1,000 deaths per day in 2009 according to CDC.  When your blood pressure is high you are 4 times more likely to die from a stroke and 3 times more likely to die from heart disease. 

In North Dakota, stroke is currently the third leading cause of death.  70% of strokes captured in the stroke registry have hypertension recorded as a key risk factor.  MediQhome reports that there are at least 100,000 North Dakota adults being monitored or treated for high blood pressure, and that only 75% are considered controlling their blood pressure.  

Working together and leading by example our state’s corporate, government and health organizations can create a culture in which healthy choices are the default choice.   Together we can meet the goal of improving the cardiovascular health of all North Dakotans by 20 percent by 2020. 

To learn how you can be one in a Million Hearts® go to http://millionhearts.hhs.gov 

For more information on lowering your blood pressure go to www.heart.org/hbp