Happy American Heart Month, the time of year where we each should take a moment to check-in with our heart and overall cardiovascular health.
Did you know that heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States? According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 702,880 Americans died from heart disease in 2022. In fact, the prevalence of deaths due to heart disease in the U.S. amounts to one death every 33 seconds; out of those who live with high cholesterol, only 1 in 4 are actually managing it affectively.
So, first things first: what should you know, and what should you be doing to maintain good heart health?
Know the difference: There is both good and bad types of cholesterol. High-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol is considered the good kind, and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol is the bad kind. Too much LDL cholesterol can build up along the walls of your blood vessels, creating plaque, which puts strain on blood flow.
Make good habits: You can start managing your LDL cholesterol and improving your heart health through several key habits:
o Ensure regular and good quality sleep, aiming for 7 to 9 hours a night.
o Exercise regularly, aiming for at least 150 minutes of aerobic exercise each week. It can be as simple as going for walks!
o Eat healthily, by looking for foods that are low in saturated fat, sodium, and added sugars. One way to help ensure this is by eating two or more meatless meals each week!
o Quit Smoking! It might be tough, but smoking regularly is a big contributor to poor heart health. Check-out smokefree.gov for some helpful resources.
Understanding your cholesterol and knowing these good habits is where your journey to improved cardiovascular heath starts. Now, what does American Heart Month mean for Hispanic and Latino communities across the United States?
The National Hispanic Council on Aging’s (NHCOA) 2024 Status of Hispanic Older Adults Annual Report (SHOAR) made recent headway into understanding the relationship between cholesterol and Latino Americans. The 2024 SHOAR included focus groups and a national survey that were designed to gauge Hispanic and Latino Americans’ knowledge and perspective on cardiovascular health.
Those who participated in these focus groups frequently identified lifestyle as a key contributor to poor cardiovascular health, specifically when it comes to diet and exercise. Some made a connection to what they referenced as the “American” diet being a key contributor, and participants frequently identified their socioeconomic status as being a barrier to managing cholesterol. The combination of these findings forms a narrative that connects clearly to food security, a troubling issue for communities all over the United States, as well as a key contributor to the nation’s overall heart health. (Read more on the relationship between Food Security and CVD, here)
Participants of our national survey further substantiated trends set within the focus groups. Many cited difficulty in maintaining a healthy diet, as well as a struggle to incorporate exercise into their daily lives. To understand the context of these responses, requires an understanding of the Hispanic and Latino demographic within the United States. CDC research on morbidity and mortality of the Hispanic population between 2009 and 2013 noted higher rates of obesity (30% more), high blood pressure (40% more), tobacco use (72% more), heart disease (89% more), and cancer (93% more) among US-born Hispanic and Latino populations versus Hispanic and Latino immigrants.
The majority of the survey’s participants strongly agreed that the United States should be more concerned about cholesterol and cardiovascular health. A sentiment that we at NHCOA believe wholeheartedly in. We know the communities that we serve to be in clear need of policy-level changes that would contribute to better management of cholesterol and overall cardiovascular health. The overall percentage of the United States’ deaths due to heart disease is somewhat even-keeled across demographics, albeit with Black Americans receiving the highest toll, with 22.6%.
This American Heart Month, we at the National Hispanic Council on Aging, encourage our constituents and fellow organizations concerned with the nation’s health, to consider what we can do to change heart health across the country for the better. For a more in-depth look at our findings and policy recommendations on cardiovascular health, we encourage all to check out the 2024 SHOAR, here, as well as our recent Webinar on the subject, here.
NHCOA informs its policy recommendations with the thoughtful perspectives and experiences of our constituents and community. If you’re interested in making your experience known to the lawmakers that represent you, be sure to register for our upcoming virtual Legislative Breakfast, on February 25th at 11:00 am! It’s an event you won’t want to miss, where experts from the fields of chronic diseases like CVD and more will gather with lawmakers and community members like you for worthwhile discussion.
Register here, to join us Tuesday, February 25th from 11:00 am to 12:30 pm.
References:
– “American Heart Month.” National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. National Institutes of Health. https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/education/american-heart-month
– “Heart Disease Facts.” The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 10/24/2024. https://www.cdc.gov/heart-disease/data-research/facts-stats/index.html
– “Vital Signs: Leading Causes of Death, Prevalence of Diseases and Risk Factors, and Use of Health Services Among Hispanics in the United States—2009-2013,” Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6417a5.htm#:~:text=U.S.%2Dborn%20Hispanics%20had%20a,born%20Hispanics%20(Table%204).
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