Heart Health

Don't Gamble with Your Heart!
Resources Across the MHS and Its Partners

Don't Gamble with Your Heart!

heart health theme graphic don't gamble with your heart Don’t gamble with your heart! February is Heart Healthy month and the Military Heart System wants you to heart your heart. Heart disease and stroke are the number one killers worldwide. Heart disease and stroke claims 17.5 million lives a year, or the equivalent of more than one death every two seconds. Heart disease is a term that includes several more specific heart conditions. The most common heart disease in the United States is coronary heart disease, which can lead to heart attack.

Know Your Risk! Risk factors for heart disease and stroke include high blood pressure, cholesterol and glucose levels, smoking, inadequate intake of fruits and vegetables, overweight and obesity and physical inactivity. Taken together, these major risk factors account for around 80% of deaths from heart disease and stroke.

The only way to know your level of risk is to be assessed by a healthcare professional and to be checked for factors such as your blood pressure, cholesterol and glucose levels, waist measurement and BMI. Once you know your overall risk, agree with your healthcare professional on a plan for specific actions you should take to reduce your risk for heart disease and stroke.

Take the American Heart Association “Learn to Live” quiz here.

Resources Across the MHS and Its Partners

MHS Organizations

	TRICARE Covered Services – Cardiac Rehabilitation: Check out the cardiac rehabilitation, including inpatient hospitalization TRICARE covers. From "The Doctor is In" Share Your Love with a Healthy Heart: Dr. Jack Smith Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Clinical and Program Policy and Acting Chief Medical Officer suggests following these dietary changes for a healthy heart. Cholesterol is a Numbers Game, Know Yours: There are numerous things that can affect cholesterol levels. Dr. Jack Smith tells us ways we can control cholesterol levels.
	Force Health Protection and Readiness -Deployment Health and Family Readiness Library -This library provides Service members, families, leaders, Health Care providers, and veterans an easy way to find deployment health and family readiness information. Within this library you'll find access to fact sheets, guides, and other products on a wide variety of topics published by the services and organizations that serve you. You'll also find additional web links to other organizations and resources devoted to the health and well-being of the Service member and their family.
	Army Medicine - Heart Disease: Maj. Christos Hatzigeorgiou tells us that prevention is the best treatment for heart disease.

TRICARE Covered Services – Cardiac Rehabilitation: Check out the cardiac rehabilitation, including inpatient hospitalization TRICARE covers.

From "The Doctor is In"

Share Your Love with a Healthy Heart: Dr. Jack Smith Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Clinical and Program Policy and Acting Chief Medical Officer suggests following these dietary changes for a healthy heart.
Cholesterol is a Numbers Game, Know Yours: There are numerous things that can affect cholesterol levels. Dr. Jack Smith tells us ways we can control cholesterol levels.

Force Health Protection and Readiness -Deployment Health and Family Readiness Library -This library provides Service members, families, leaders, Health Care providers, and veterans an easy way to find deployment health and family readiness information. Within this library you'll find access to fact sheets, guides, and other products on a wide variety of topics published by the services and organizations that serve you. You'll also find additional web links to other organizations and resources devoted to the health and well-being of the Service member and their family.

Army Medicine - Heart Disease: Maj. Christos Hatzigeorgiou tells us that prevention is the best treatment for heart disease.

Support for a Healthy Lifestyle

	Fit For Duty - This podcast series takes viewers through a high-energy 30-minute, resistance, Pilates, and high-energy cardiovascular workouts, led by service members with expertise in fitness training.
	Hooah4Health - The U.S. Army's health promotion and wellness web site. Here are some resources to maintain a healthy heart: Target Heart Rate Zone Calculator: To improve fat metabolism, burn calories, and increase the efficiency of your cardiovascular system, work out in your target heart rate zone. Use this calculator to find out your target heart rate zone. Women & Heart Disease: Check out this list of facts on Women and Heart Disease. Go Red for Women: February 6 is "Red Dress Day," dedicated to raising awareness of heart disease in women. High Blood Cholesterol, what you need to know: Your blood cholesterol level has a lot to do with your chances of getting heart disease. Find out what you need to know.
	Military OneSource -Provided by the Department of Defense for active-duty, Guard, and Reserve service members and their families this resource is free and available by phone or online. The service provides counseling and other resources like CDs, booklets, and DVDs that promote healthy lifestyles including: Your Aging Heart: What’s Happening: Provided by the Department of Defense for active-duty, Guard, and Reserve service members and their families this newletter article gives you tips on keeping a heart healthy as you grow older.
	Navy and Marine Corps Public Health Center – Heart Health The Navy and Marine Corps Public Health Center (NMCPHC) is the Navy and Marine Corps center for public health services. The site has a host of resources to encourage healthy heart practices.
	Quit Tobacco. Make Everyone Proud- Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense, this resource helps service members learn more about tobacco , develop a personalized plan for quitting, create a personal or public blog, and communicate privately with a live counselor. Do your heart a favor, quit tobacco!

More information

	CDC - Heart Disease: In the United States, the most common type of heart disease is coronary artery disease (CAD), which can lead to heart attack. This CDC resource provides a great deal of information on heart disease.
	American Heart Association: The American Heart Association is a national voluntary health agency whose mission is: "Building healthier lives, free of cardiovascular diseases and stroke."