Pulse

There are a growing number of students going into sudden cardiac arrest while participating in athletic activities, making it the leading cause of death in young athletes. For every minute that defribillation is delayed the survival rates drops 7 - 10%.  By placing an automated external defbrillators (AEDs) in schools the chance of survival for these young athletes increases dramatically. Just ask Chris Fowler, a Ovid-Elsie High School football player who went into sudden cardiac arrest during football practice last year.  Luckily, the Ovid-Elsie high school had an AED and with the quick thinking and action of staff, Chris is able to play sports once again.

Click here to read Chris' story

Rhode Island advocates rocked the State House on May 15th during our annual Lobby Day!  The focus of the day was our "CPR in Schools" bill, which would require all high school students to receive hands-on CPR training and an overview of AED use prior to graduation as part of the health education curriculum.  The Rhode Island Senate unanimously passed the legislation on May 7 and advocates urged the House to follow suit.  The group met with Rep. Joe McNamara, Chairman of the House Health, Education and Welfare Committee and sponsor of the "CPR in Schools" bill in the House.  Following the group meeting, advocates visited with their representatives --  and all pledged support for the bill.  Advocates also took a minute to thank their senators for voting YES on this lifesaving measure.

Special thanks to our Lobby Day team: Dr. Lloyd Feit, John Potvin, Tracey Kennedy, Miriam Plitt, Laurie Stephenson, Nancy Blasdell, Lisa Deck, Kathy Harrington, Shandra Printer, Annmarie Hanson, Victoria Smith, Sara McMullen and Korrie Chapman.

May is National Stroke Month, and we need you to raise awareness for, and educate others in the community on stroke and what can be done to prevent it. 

Stroke is our nations number four killer and the leading cause of long term disability.  On average someone in the United States has a stroke every 40 seconds. Additionally, certain segments of the population in the U.S. have a disproportionately high risk for stroke. In fact, African Americans and Hispanics have almost twice the risk of experiencing a stroke. 

Despite these sobering statistics, the good news is that stroke can be prevented by creating awareness and reducing some of the known, changeable risk factors such as smoking, high blood pressure and lack of physical activity.

The American Stroke Association, a division of the American Heart Association, advocates in support of the following policy priorities in order to prevent stroke and improve the quality of care received by those who experience stroke:

• Protect investments in stroke prevention
• Support the development and implementation of stroke systems of care
• Increase the National Institutes of Health investment in stroke research

 Let's work together in fighting heart disease and stroke in Colorado by raising awareness this month and every month about what can be done to prevent this life threatening emergency.

As we continue to think about the wellbeing of women during National Women’s Health week, smoking rates among females comes to mind. It may surprise you to learn that smoking increases the risk of heart disease and stroke by 2 to 4 times. Also, women who smoke have a 25 percent higher risk of developing heart disease as compared to men who smoke.  And, continuing to smoke throughout your life shaves 13-14 years off of your life expectancy. So, despite beliefs to the contrary, smoking doesn’t just cause a risk for lung cancer.

And Along Comes Baby

As you would imagine, smoking during pregnancy causes a whole new set of health concerns for the unborn child. In fact, it has been shown to reduce the production of a chemical that relaxes blood vessels and can lead to lowered blood flow to the fetus, resulting in lower birth weight, shorter length and smaller head circumference. If an expectant mother stops smoking early in pregnancy, enzyme levels return to normal and the infant is born at normal birth weight. Here in Ohio we are ranked 44th out of 50 with 18.6% of pregnant women smoking.

To learn about resources for quitting smoking and to show your legislators that stroke and heart health issues are important to you, please visit our Take Action center to send your supportive message today and encourage others to send a message through Facebook.

As we continue to think about the wellbeing of women during National Women’s Health week, smoking rates among females comes to mind. It may surprise you to learn that smoking increases the risk of heart disease and stroke by 2 to 4 times. Also, women who smoke have a 25 percent higher risk of developing heart disease as compared to men who smoke.  And, continuing to smoke throughout your life shaves 13-14 years off of your life expectancy. So, despite beliefs to the contrary, smoking doesn’t just cause a risk for lung cancer.

And Along Comes Baby

As you would imagine, smoking during pregnancy causes a whole new set of health concerns for the unborn child. In fact, it has been shown to reduce the production of a chemical that relaxes blood vessels and can lead to lowered blood flow to the fetus, resulting in lower birth weight, shorter length and smaller head circumference. If an expectant mother stops smoking early in pregnancy, enzyme levels return to normal and the infant is born at normal birth weight. Here in West Virginia we are ranked 50 out of 50 with 29.7% of pregnant women smoking.

To learn about resources for quitting smoking and to show your legislators that stroke and heart health issues are important to you, please visit our Take Action center to send your supportive message today and encourage others to send a message through Facebook.

As we continue to think about the wellbeing of women during National Women’s Health week, smoking rates among females comes to mind. It may surprise you to learn that smoking increases the risk of heart disease and stroke by 2 to 4 times. Also, women who smoke have a 25 percent higher risk of developing heart disease as compared to men who smoke.  And, continuing to smoke throughout your life shaves 13-14 years off of your life expectancy. So, despite beliefs to the contrary, smoking doesn’t just cause a risk for lung cancer.

And Along Comes Baby

As you would imagine, smoking during pregnancy causes a whole new set of health concerns for the unborn child. In fact, it has been shown to reduce the production of a chemical that relaxes blood vessels and can lead to lowered blood flow to the fetus, resulting in lower birth weight, shorter length and smaller head circumference. If an expectant mother stops smoking early in pregnancy, enzyme levels return to normal and the infant is born at normal birth weight. Here in Delaware we are ranked 28 out of 50 with 12.9% of pregnant women smoking.

To learn about resources for quitting smoking and to show your legislators that stroke and heart health issues are important to you, please visit our Take Action center to send your supportive message today and encourage others to send a message through Facebook.

As we continue to think about the wellbeing of women during National Women’s Health week, smoking rates among females comes to mind. It may surprise you to learn that smoking increases the risk of heart disease and stroke by 2 to 4 times. Also, women who smoke have a 25 percent higher risk of developing heart disease as compared to men who smoke.  And, continuing to smoke throughout your life shaves 13-14 years off of your life expectancy. So, despite beliefs to the contrary, smoking doesn’t just cause a risk for lung cancer.

And Along Comes Baby

As you would imagine, smoking during pregnancy causes a whole new set of health concerns for the unborn child. In fact, it has been shown to reduce the production of a chemical that relaxes blood vessels and can lead to lowered blood flow to the fetus, resulting in lower birth weight, shorter length and smaller head circumference. If an expectant mother stops smoking early in pregnancy, enzyme levels return to normal and the infant is born at normal birth weight. Here in Kentucky we are ranked 49 out of 50 with 24.4% of pregnant women smoking.

To learn about resources for quitting smoking and to show your legislators that stroke and heart health issues are important to you, please visit our Take Action center to send your supportive message today and encourage others to send a message through Facebook.

As we continue to think about the wellbeing of women during National Women’s Health week, smoking rates among females comes to mind. It may surprise you to learn that smoking increases the risk of heart disease and stroke by 2 to 4 times. Also, women who smoke have a 25 percent higher risk of developing heart disease as compared to men who smoke.  And, continuing to smoke throughout your life shaves 13-14 years off of your life expectancy. So, despite beliefs to the contrary, smoking doesn’t just cause a risk for lung cancer.

And Along Comes Baby

As you would imagine, smoking during pregnancy causes a whole new set of health concerns for the unborn child. In fact, it has been shown to reduce the production of a chemical that relaxes blood vessels and can lead to lowered blood flow to the fetus, resulting in lower birth weight, shorter length and smaller head circumference. If an expectant mother stops smoking early in pregnancy, enzyme levels return to normal and the infant is born at normal birth weight. Here in Pennsylvania we are ranked 35 out of 50 with 15.6% of pregnant women smoking.

To learn about resources for quitting smoking and to show your legislators that stroke and heart health issues are important to you, please visit our Take Action center to send your supportive message today and encourage others to send a message through Facebook.

DALLAS – May 14, 2013 ― The American Heart Association says a new report from the Institute of Medicine (IOM) -- Sodium Intake in Populations: Assessment of Evidence -- is incomplete in its assessment of sodium’s impact on health because it does not focus its examinations on scientific evidence that links excess consumption and high blood pressure. The report found that though reducing sodium intakes from current levels is important, and that there is a positive relationship between higher levels of sodium intake and risk of heart disease, there is not enough evidence to conclude that sodium reduction below 2,300 mg daily leads to less heart disease, stroke and a reduced risk of death.

“While the American Heart Association commends the IOM for taking on the challenging topic of sodium consumption, we disagree with key conclusions,” said the association’s CEO Nancy Brown.The report is missing a critical component – a comprehensive review of well-established evidence which links too much sodium to high blood pressure and heart disease.”

The American Heart Association has meticulously reviewed scientific research and recommends that all Americans eat no more than 1,500 mg a day of sodium. Current average sodium consumption in the United States for people age 2 and up is more than 3,400 mg a day.

A majority of the sodium Americans eat is in the form of salt that is added to processed foods and restaurant foods which makes it difficult for consumers to choose and control how much sodium they consume. While the food industry has reduced the sodium content of some foods, more significant reductions are needed. As a result, the association supports federal regulations that would limit the amount of sodium in foods – the primary strategy stated in a 2010 IOM report, Strategies to Reduce Sodium Intake in the United States.

Much of the research suggesting that decreasing sodium intake has no effect on or leads to increased heart disease and death has been conducted among sick patients, rather than the general population. “The research that the IOM partially based their conclusions on showed inconsistencies in the relationship between sodium intake and health outcomes. Yet these studies were not designed to assess the impact of various levels of sodium intake on cardiovascular health,” said Elliott Antman, M.D., a spokesperson for the American Heart Association, a cardiologist at the Brigham and Women's Hospital and a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School in Boston. Several of these studies with inconsistent reports are discussed in AHA’s 2012 Presidential Advisory, Sodium, Blood Pressure, and Cardiovascular Disease:  Further Evidence Supporting the American Heart Association Sodium Reduction Recommendations.

Although the scientific community continues to debate the use of biomarkers in general and surrogate indicators of health outcomes, recent evidence attributes 35 percent of heart attack and stroke events, 49 percent of heart failure episodes, and 24 percent of premature deaths to high blood pressure.

The World Health Organization, in its 2012 sodium intake guidelines for adults and children, determined that blood pressure could be a suitable proxy indicator for risk of heart disease and stroke, as did a prior 2005 IOM report.

A recent review of current research conducted by the American Heart Association concluded that people who don’t currently have high blood pressure will benefit from consuming less than 1,500 mg of sodium daily, because less dietary sodium will significantly reduce the rise in blood pressure that occurs as we age. Ninety percent of all Americans are expected to develop high blood pressure in their lifetime. Independent of its effects on blood pressure, excess sodium intake adversely affects the heart, kidneys and blood vessels.

Reducing sodium intake in the United States can also rein in health costs. One estimate suggests a national effort that reduces population sodium intake by 1,200 mg per day could reduce the health burdens related to heart disease in addition to reducing costs by up to $24 billion per year.

Sodium consumption in the United States remains unacceptably high with an average of 3,329 mg in 2001-02 and an average intake of 3,463 mg in 2009-10, the latest year for which federal dietary intake data are available. Yet the Institute of Medicine’s Dietary Reference Intakes point out that 1,500 mg/D is an adequate intake for health.

The American Heart Association advocates for more robust sodium criteria within school nutrition standards, foods marketed to children and foods purchased by employers and government programs. The association also supports improved food labeling that helps consumers understand how much sodium is in their diet and consumer education in restaurants to help consumers choose lower-sodium options.

Successful sodium reduction requires action and partnership at all levels—individuals, healthcare providers, professional organizations, public health agencies, governments and industry. The association urges a renewed and intensive focus on this critically important public health issue. For more information on the association’s sodium reduction efforts, visit www.heart.org/sodium.

The American Heart Association/American Stroke Association receives funding mostly from individuals. Foundations and corporations donate as well, and fund specific programs and events. Strict policies are enforced to prevent these relationships from influencing the association’s science content. Financial information for the American Heart Association, including a list of contributions from pharmaceutical companies and device manufacturers, is available at www.heart.org/corporatefunding.

Cardiac arrest can happen anywhere….at the mall, at the park, at a local sporting event or even in the halls of a local school.  Having a bystander around that knows CPR can make all the difference for a person who’s heart stops suddenly.

S 160, a bill to train students in CPR before they graduate, is now coming before the Full Senate for a vote. It's made good progress through committees and we must make sure it keeps moving forward.

S 160 would allow for a whole new class of young citizens in South Carolina will learn CPR, a valuable skill – a skill they will be able to carry with them for a lifetime.

Please take action quickly: Tell your legislators you want them to support S 160.

When someone's heart stops beating, every second is precious. But when an individual on the scene performs CPR before paramedics arrive, the victim is two to three times more likely to survive. Unfortunately, the majority of those who suffer sudden cardiac arrest don't get this simple, lifesaving treatment, because 70% of Americans don't know how to perform CPR. It's heartbreaking, but it's also something we can fix.

Many schools across the country are implementing CPR training in schools at no cost or as little as $1/student. Effective Hands-Only CPR can be taught in the time it takes to watch a TV sitcom. That's an investment well worth it to help prepare citizens to be able to save a life.

Let your legislators know that you support training out students in CPR today.