California

Stroke is a medical emergency and time lost is brain lost.  Yet, a recent study published in the American Heart Association journal, Circulation, showed less than one-third of stroke patients arrive at the hospital via ambulance. This can mean delayed treatment and a more difficult recovery.

When you recognize the symptoms of a stroke, call 9-1-1 right away. When stroke patients are transported to the hospital via ambulance, emergency responders can call ahead to ensure the hospital is prepared to receive and quickly treat the patient. Prompt treatment is critical to ensuring positive patient outcomes.

Remember the acronym F.A.S.T. to help you recognize symptoms and what to do:

                F - Face Drooping: Does one side of the face droop or is it numb?

                A - Arm Weakness: Is one arm weak or numb?

                S - Speech Difficulty: Is speech slurred, are they unable to speak, or are they hard to understand?

                T - Time to call 911: If the person shows any of these symptoms, call 9-1-1 immediately.

Do you have a story of stroke survival? Did you recognize the symptoms? Share your stroke story here.

Learn more about the American Heart Association’s advocacy efforts to improve stroke care in every state.

I was honored to join 300 volunteer advocates and staff from the American Heart Association for You’re the Cure on the Hill in Washington D.C. this April.  We participated in the Rally for Medical Research and visited Senators and Representatives to advocate for two issues that are near to our hearts: NIH Funding and Million Hearts. 

Our first ask was for the House and Senate to appropriate $32 billion for the National Institutes of Health for Fiscal Year 2014 which would actually restore the funding lost by the 2013 sequester and get the NIH “back on track.”  Because of the sequester, California is at risk of losing over 3,000 positions in the research field which could have serious implications on future scientific discoveries.

Our second ask was for a $35M appropriation from the existing Prevention Fund account to be directed to the Million Hearts Campaign that is co-sponsored by the AHA and the CDC.  The aim of Million Hearts is to prevent a million heart attacks in the next five years.  The $35M appropriation would help create a public awareness campaign on the dangers of uncontrolled blood pressure. 

If you couldn’t make it to You’re the Cure on the Hill in Washington D.C., you’re more than welcome to join us on May 1^st for California Lobby Day.  This year we need your help to support healthy vending opinions in state buildings and tobacco control policies.  If you are interested in attending please RSVP here. Looking forward to seeing you in Sacramento!

The sequester has taken effect and the battle over the budget continues in Congress. Yet You’re the Cure advocates are preparing to go to Washington, DC to fight for critical heart and stroke funding. Our Western States Affiliate delegation, made up of survivors, caregivers, researchers, and physicians, represents seven of our ten states.

This tremendous group will urge legislators to restore funding to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) that was recently cut by the sequester. While a 5% cut may not sound like a lot, the impact on the NIH was in fact truly significant: a 5% cut to the NIH budget equates to $1.6 billion. This cut reduced the number of grants given, cut more than 20,000 jobs nationwide and reduced economic activity by $3 billion. To repair this economic damage and to ensure the U.S. remains a leader in medical research, advocates will urge Congress to fund the NIH at $32 billion for 2014. Research remains our best hope to find more effective ways to prevent, treat and cure heart disease and stroke.

Advocates will also encourage Congress to allocate $35 million of prevention fund dollars to the Million Hearts Initiative. This will create a nationwide high blood pressure educational campaign. One in three Americans have high blood pressure but many either don’t know it or don’t have it under control. Someone with high blood pressure is four times more likely to die of a stroke and three times more likely to die of heart disease. The Million Hearts Initiative will helps Americans get this dangerous risk factor under control.

You can be a part of this important advocacy event. Send your “heart” to Washington and urge legislators to fund these lifesaving heart and stroke programs. 

A bipartisan group of women from the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate joined the American Heart Association on Valentine’s Day to ‘Go Red’ in support of the 43 million women who are currently living with heart disease.

Women members from the House and Senate gathered for a photo at the U.S. Capitol dressed in red to remind people across the country that heart disease is not just a “man’s disease.”  It is the number one killer of women in the United States and accounts for one out of three female deaths annually. Every minute one woman dies because of heart disease.

February is American Heart Month and it also marks the 10th anniversary of the American Heart Association’s ‘Go Red for Women’ campaign. In the last decade more than 627,000 women’s lives have been saved and awareness that heart disease is women’s number one killer has increased 23 percent.

The American Heart Association’s policy goals are to promote access to health coverage for all Americans and implementation of health reform on the state level. Supporting implementation of  the Affordable Care Act will help us reach these significant policy outcomes. The new year has just begun, but the countdown to 2014 has already started. When the Affordable Care Act passed in 2010, it was difficult to understand the expansion of health coverage and what that entailed. However, as October 2013 is coming up, there has been progress in implementing the most significant health care reform since 1965, when Medicare and Medicaid were enacted.

The State of California is reforming its health care system through Covered California, which plans to reach more than 5.3 million Californians as of January 2014. Covered California’s goals include strengthening the health care delivery system, promoting affordability for consumers and small employers, and requiring that health care service plans competition be based on price, quality and service. This, along with subsidies for some plans purchased through Covered California, is good news for many Californians. To be more precise, 2.6 million Californians will qualify for subsidies through Covered California, and 2.7 million will be guaranteed health coverage (whether it be through Covered California or not). Of those who qualify, nearly 50% are Latino and 33% are Caucasian; 780,000 of these subsidy eligible individuals reside in Los Angeles alone.

So, how is Covered California going to reach these people? There will be a customer service center, whose staff speaks 12 languages, to work to reduce the number of medically uninsured Californians. These staff members will be just a phone call away to help eligible individuals and small employers understand their insurance options. The enrollment period for Covered California begins on October 1, 2013 – 90 days before the Affordable Care Act officially goes into effect.

 - Lena Lam, Greater Bay Area Advocacy Intern

Guest Blogger: Christine Wooley, Advocate Leader

With the holidays in full swing, it can be a challenge to stick to your normal workout routine and stay on a healthy diet. This holiday I have been wearing a pedometer and keeping healthy food choices available to help stay fit and ward off unwanted pounds.

My goal is to walk 8,000 to 10,000 steps per day. This sounds like a lot of walking, but you will be amazed at how quickly the steps add up. Wearing a pedometer has helped me to be more aware of my daily physical activity. It’s actually been really fun to set step goals. I purchased my pedometer through my healthcare provider. You can also purchase pedometers with the AHA logo on them at the American Heart Association website, shop.heart.org

Last Saturday, knowing that I wanted to get at least 8,000 steps of walking in and having Christmas shopping to do, I parked my car outside of the downtown shopping area and walked rather than parking next to the shops. I loved periodically checking my pedometer to see how many steps were accumulating, and to my surprise ended up walking 13,580 steps.

Another thing that I have been doing to try and stay ahead of the curve, so to speak, is to have healthy snacks around the house. Our fruit bowl is full of fresh yummy fruits, and we have crunchy veggies in the refrigerator ready for snacking. The T.V. room has nuts in the shell to eat while watching our favorite holiday shows. Having to crack the shells keeps me from eating too fast.

The holiday season only comes around once a year, so don’t feel guilty about eating your favorite holiday treats. Just grab a pedometer, get your daily exercise in, eat healthy when you can, and most importantly enjoy!

Wishing you a happy holiday season and a healthy new year! 

- From your Western States Affiliate Advocacy Team

The American Heart Association recently released an update on rates of heart disease and stroke. Read the article here.

While much progress had been made in the last decade to reduce these rates, continued unhealthy behaviors are putting this progress at risk. Poor eating and exercise habits may be to blame.

High blood pressure and cholesterol medications may only reduce the nation’s risk of heart disease so much. The rest must be managed with healthy behaviors. What will you do to improve your health and reduce your risk?

- Lindsay Williams, Grassroots Advocacy Director

Recently U.S. District Court Judge Gladys Kessler issued a decision ordering the tobacco industry to publish corrective statements that the industry lied about smoking’s health effects. The decision also requires the tobacco industry to fully disclose the dangers of smoking in advertisements and packaging.  

The tobacco industry’s continuous deception has misled the public about the health implications of smoking for far too long. This deceptive marketing has included false claims about ‘light’ or ‘low-tar’ cigarettes. Judge Kessler’s decision will finally require that the industry own up to their misdeeds.  Along with deceptive marketing tactics, the industry spent over $50 million to defeat our recent effort to increase the tobacco tax in California.  

The decision corrects a long-standing history of tobacco industry deception, and will have an immediate impact on tobacco use across all ages. The advent of corrective statements and our renewed tobacco tax efforts, gives our volunteers and survivors a real chance to save lives.

- Lindsay Williams, Grassroots Advocacy Director

There are exciting things take placing in Los Angeles County, and I would especially like to give KUDOS to Temple City for passing a Comprehensive, Smoke-Free policy, a Tobacco Retail Licensing (TRL) policy and a Multi-Unit Housing policy all on December 4^th, 2012!  Creating policies that will eliminate the risk to secondhand smoke exposure will translate into reducing the prevalence of cardiovascular disease and stroke constituents of Los Angeles.  I encourage all cities across the County to revisit their tobacco control policies, in order to identify if enough work is being done to help visitors and residents. 

Until next time,

Jackie, Greater Los Angeles Government Relations Director