BY OLIVIA SPIRITO; EDITED BY BERNICE BORN
February is American Heart Month, and the National Institutes of Health is promoting this year’s slogan, “Our Hearts.” This theme encourages people to make a pact with friends and family to take care of their hearts and their cardiovascular health.
The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that worldwide 17.9 million people die every year from cardiovascular diseases — and more than 75% of these deaths occur in developing countries. Many of those deaths can be prevented. A healthy lifestyle — a good diet, exercise and adequate sleep — contributes to maintaining a healthy heart.
WiRED International created a training module on heart diseases to help educate general audiences and community health workers about heart health and disease. Other modules related to the heart can be found in WiRED’s Health Learning Center, and many are translated into Spanish, French, Portuguese, Chinese and Arabic.
Cardiovascular health includes not only the heart but also the veins and arteries connected to it. WiRED offers a three-part anatomy series, the first part of which describes the circulatory system. Everyone can benefit from a basic understanding of this critical system.
WiRED encourages people to raise the issue of heart health with family and friends and to share information about a healthy lifestyle.
You can download the modules mentioned in this story, and all 400+ of WiRED’s health modules, through WiRED’s Health Module Access Program (HealthMAP) by clicking here. This easy-to-use free program will enable you to create your own customized collection of health learning modules. You can learn more about HealthMAP through WiRED's animation.
Maintaining a Heart Healthy Lifestyle
Here are five changes to make:
Source: NHLBI, CDC and American Heart Association