Get Healthier During American Heart Month With Alliancehealth Ponca City’s 28-day Healthy Heart Challenge

1/27/2023

PONCA CITY, OK – Heart disease is a leading cause of death in the United States, claiming the lives of more than 650,000 people each year. Here are some other facts everyone should know about heart disease:

• In the U.S., one person dies every 34 seconds from cardiovascular disease.
• Every year, about 800,000 Americans suffer a heart attack.
• Nearly half of American adults (47%) suffer from high blood pressure, or hypertension, which increases the risk of a heart attack and stroke. However, only about 1 in 4 people with high blood pressure have their condition under control.

Another important fact is that most people can take steps right now to reduce the risks related to heart disease.

“While there are some factors causing heart disease that are genetic and not necessarily treatable at this point in time, there is clearly strong association between lifestyle and the development of various types of heart disease. A healthy lifestyle including avoidance of obesity, eating a diet low in saturated fat and predominantly plant-based is strongly associated with much lower cardiovascular risk. Other risks factors including cigarette smoking and hypertension are also strongly associated with increased cardiovascular risk,” said Dr. Schiff, chest pain medical director and chief of staff at AllianceHealth Ponca City. “The same risk factors that are modifiable for the prevention of coronary heart disease also significantly impact the risk of other vascular disease including strokes and peripheral arterial disease. Our aim should be to help people to modify their lifestyle in a hope that they can prevent many of these diseases which are much more difficult to treat once they have develop. While we can treat many of these diseases with the medications that we have and with the interventional procedures that have developed over the past 40 years or so, there is no doubt that the lifestyle changes will play a major role in determining the long-term prognosis of these diseases.”

Since 1964, February has been recognized as American Heart Month – a time of year dedicated to increasing awareness about heart health and highlighting steps we can take to create a heart healthy lifestyle.

This year, AllianceHealth Ponca City is taking the entire month of February to help people in the community learn ways to reduce their risks with the 28-Day Healthy Heart Challenge. Participants will receive a daily email with short, informative articles, quick tips, and a daily challenge to promote heart health.

“At AllianceHealth Ponca City, we are committed to helping people live healthier and what better way to start the year than to take better care of our hearts,” says Chris Mendoza, Chief Executive Officer for AllianceHealth Ponca City. “People who join us for this challenge will find the content takes only a couple of minutes to read each day. It is fun, sometimes surprising, always informative, and it can be life-saving. I hope everyone will sign up for the challenge and join us on a 28 day journey to a healthier heart.”

The 28-Day Healthy Heart Challenge includes 28 challenges that can help participants eat healthier, get up from a sedentary lifestyle, relieve stress and lower blood pressure. To sign-up for the 28-Day Healthy Heart Challenge, visit AllianceHealthPoncaCity.com/heart-challenge.

For more information, please review the 2021 Community Benefit Report.

To help the community live healthier, AllianceHealth Ponca City launched a free e-newsletter with a monthly dose of health and wellness inspiration sent directly to your inbox. Sign up at https://www.alliancehealthponcacity.com/enewsletter-sign-up.

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