Wear Red Day

Wear Red Day Chapa-De Indian Health Auburn Grass Valley | Medical Clinic

Wear Red Day

By | February 1, 2019 | affordable health care Auburn, affordable health care Grass Valley, Auburn health clinic, Auburn Medi-Cal, Auburn Medicare, Grass Valley health clinic, Medi-Cal clinic Auburn, Medi-Cal clinic Grass Valley, Medi-Cal Clinic Placer, Medicare clinic Grass Valley | , |

Wear Red Day

Chapa-De Indian Health Auburn Grass Valley | Medical Clinic

February is American Heart Month. On the first Friday of February, we observe National Wear Red Day to raise awareness about heart disease and help save lives. Make sure to take this opportunity to learn about heart disease and how to prevent it. Wear red today!

What is heart disease?

Heart and blood vessel disease, or cardiovascular disease, can cause many health problems. Mostly, this disease affects a process called atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis is when a substance called plaque builds up in your arteries. Arteries pump blood from your heart to the rest of your body, and with atherosclerosis your arteries can’t do their job properly. Since blood carries oxygen, which you need to breathe to stay alive, limited blood flow is very dangerous.

What does heart disease lead to?

There are several life-threatening situations that can arise as a result of heart disease. Here are a few:

  • Heart Attack
    • This is when blood flow to the heart is blocked, causing the heart muscle to stop working.
  • Stroke
    • A stroke is when blood vessels are blocked or burst, causing brain cells to die.
    • Read more about strokes in our previous blog post HERE.
  • Heart Failure
    • This happens when the heart is not pumping blood correctly.
  • Arrhythmia
    • Arrhythmia means the heart is not beating at the right speed, affecting how it pumps blood.
  • Heart Valve Problems
    • Valves must open and close properly to make sure blood is pumped through the body. When they can’t do this, it leads to heart valve problems.

Read more about the harmful consequences of heart disease HERE.

Who gets heart disease?

Heart disease is the number one killer of Americans. It is also responsible for the most American Indian and Alaskan Native deaths. In 2014 alone, heart disease killed 3,288 American Indians and Alaskan Natives. This is because American Indians and Alaskan Natives suffer from the risk factors that lead to heart disease more so than other races and ethnicities. These factors are:

There are some risk factors for heart disease that cannot be changed. American Indians and Alaskan Natives are at a higher risk of heart disease than other races or ethnicities, and women are at a higher risk of heart disease than men. Since heart disease is genetic, meaning it can be passed down in families, you are at greater risk of heart disease if someone in your family has suffered from it.

For more information on how heart disease affects American Indians and Alaska Natives specifically, click HERE.

How to prevent heart disease

There are many things you can do to help prevent heart disease.

  • Healthy diet
  • Regular exercise
  • Control your blood pressure
  • Maintain a healthy weight
  • Limit alcohol
  • Don’t smoke
  • Manage stress
  • Manage diabetes
  • Get enough sleep
  • Click HERE for more information on preventing heart disease.

Chapa-De is here to help you live a healthy lifestyle. Because heart disease is something that can be prevented, we want to make sure you are successful at preventing it.

We offer a Diabetes Prevention Program to help treat and manage diabetes. We also offer nutritional counseling to help monitor your weight and diet. We offer regular checkups to check your blood pressure and we offer health and wellness classes to keep you exercising regularly. Make sure you take advantage of all Chapa-De has to offer.

If you are ever in doubt about how to maintain a healthy lifestyle and help prevent heart disease, please call our Auburn location at (530) 887-2810 or our Grass Valley location at (530) 477-8545 or visit us online at chapa-de.org.

medlineplus.gov/

heart.org/

goredforwomen.org/

cdc.gov/

Wear Red Day

Chapa-De Indian Health Auburn Grass Valley | Medical Clinic

PASSIONATE PEOPLE. COMPASSIONATE CARE.

Chapa-De provides medical care, dental care, optometry, behavioral health, pharmacy services and much more.

Serving all American Indian, Low Income and Limited Income Community
Members

Chapa-De Indian Healthcare Auburn Grass Valleylogo2

START TYPING AND PRESS ENTER TO SEARCH