February is American Heart Month, dedicated to raising awareness of heart disease and treatments. Great Care’s team of dependable, in-home caregiving professionals are committed to helping our clients learn more about heart health and prevent cardiovascular disease and stroke.

“We are happy to serve as a resource to help you and your loved ones maintain a healthy heart,” says Great Care Founder and CEO Julie Sullivan. “February is the perfect time for us all to step back and take a look at how seniors and their caregivers can work together on similar goals of promoting heart-healthy lifestyles as part of their in-home care.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, heart disease and stroke are two of the leading causes of death in the U.S. The CDC’s Million Hearts® effort, designed to prevent 1 million heart attacks and strokes in the U.S. by 2017, encourages Americans to know their blood pressure, and if it’s high, to control their goal. The program encourages families and caregivers to understand risks for heart disease and stroke that might be passed down from generation to generation. The national campaign also suggests exercising, managing high cholesterol, stopping smoking, and eating a low-sodium, heart-healthy diet as ways to avoid heart attack and stroke. By pledging to join the Million Hearts® campaign, we can all make a positive difference within families, communities, and nationwide. Take the pledge here: http://millionhearts.hhs.gov/individuals.html.

Other proactive ways to acknowledge American Heart Month and support heart-healthy lifestyles can range from making easy, nutritious recipes at home to encouraging volunteerism and being involved in fundraising for the American Heart Association (http://www.heart.org). The AHA is an especially great resource for seniors and their caregivers in providing healthy diet and lifestyle guidelines to fight cardiovascular disease and stroke.

The nonprofit organization offers these suggestions as long-term benefits to a healthy heart:

• Eat a variety of nutritious foods from all the food groups. Nutrient-rich foods have vitamins, minerals, fiber and other nutrients but are lower in calories. Eating a variety of fruits and vegetables may help you control your weight, cholesterol and your blood pressure. To get the nutrients you need, eat a dietary pattern that emphasizes: fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat dairy products, poultry, fish and nuts, while limiting red meat and sugary foods and beverages.

• As you make daily food choices, base your eating pattern on these recommendations: Choose lean meats and poultry without skin and prepare them without added saturated and trans fat. Eat fish at least twice a week. Cut back on foods containing partially hydrogenated vegetable oils to reduce trans fat in your diet. To lower cholesterol, reduce saturated fat to no more than 5 to 6 percent of total calories. For someone eating 2,000 calories a day, that’s about 13 grams of saturated fat. Cut back on beverages and foods with added sugars.

• Choose and prepare foods with little or no salt. To lower blood pressure, aim to eat no more than 2,400 milligrams of sodium per day. Reducing daily intake to 1,500 mg is desirable because it can lower blood pressure even further.

• If you drink alcohol, drink in moderation. That means one drink per day if you’re a woman and two drinks per day if you’re a man.

Also, don’t smoke tobacco — and avoid secondhand smoke.

Happy Heart Month!

The professional at Great Care are available to talk with you and your family about all of your home care needs. Great Care is a non medical personal services agency providing quality and affordable elder care in Fishers, IN and the surrounding areas. Call (317) 595-9933 for more information.