Columns

Monday, February 2, 2004

taking prevention to heart

When I think of February, I think of hearts. The first of the month – National Women’s Heart Health Day – is all about healthy hearts. And the fourteenth – Valentine’s Day – is all about sweethearts.

I’ll leave the topic of sweethearts to advice columnists. But the topic of healthy hearts is my business – and it should be your business, too. In fact, one of my top Senate priorities in the year ahead is a new initiative designed to give Americans the resources and information they need to prevent heart disease and other chronic ailments.

Think about it: Americans spend a whopping $1 trillion a year on health care. Fully three-quarters of that is accounted for by chronic diseases – including heart disease, cancer, and diabetes – that, in many cases, are preventable.

Here in Iowa and across the U.S., we fail to make an up-front investment in prevention. So we end up spending hundreds of billions on unnecessary hospitalization, treatment, and disability. Instead of a true “health care” system – a system that keeps healthy people healthy – we have a “sick care” system that is focused on helping people after they get sick.

My goal is to empower Iowans – with information and resources – to take charge of their own health. For instance, I will offer a bill requiring chain restaurants to provide nutrition information on their regular menu items. And I want to increase access to health screenings and preventive services.

Heart disease must be a major focus of our preventive efforts. It is the single leading cause of death in America. And heart disease is not just a man’s disease. Far from it. Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women; one in two women will eventually die of heart disease or stroke. Children of parents with heart disease are more likely to develop it themselves. And African-Americans have more severe hypertension than whites, which means they have a greater risk of heart disease.

The good news is that, in so many cases, heart disease is preventable. Consider some of the major risk factors for heart disease: smoking, high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol levels, being overweight or physically inactive. By raising people’s awareness of these risk factors, and by encouraging healthy choices, we can dramatically reduce the incidence and severity of heart disease.

Here are some basic tips for preventing heart disease:

* Eat a heart-healthy diet, with plenty of fruits and vegetables, and low intake of “bad” fats and appropriate intake of “good” fats, such as olive oil and fish oil.

* Exercise regularly, ideally at least 30 minutes a day

* Quit smoking!

* Maintain an appropriate body weight

* Get regular cholesterol screenings, and keep your cholesterol levels in a desirable range.

* Manage your stress levels

We each have a responsibility to make smart choices in order to stay healthy. But, too often, Americans lack basic information about staying healthy. And too many Americans don’t know about – or lack access to – health screenings and preventive services. This has got to change. Ben Franklin got it right: “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”