I received an email from the senior center where I go for tai chi and other events and it was entitled Nurture Your Heart. I asked if I could borrow the title and received a YES. I changed it slightly to Nurturing the Heart, but the meaning is the same for me, that is, the heart needs to be cared for both physically and emotionally. And since February is American Heart Month as well as Valentine’s Day (no coincidence!), the title fits both aspects.
Here are the top three causes of death in the US. The link is for the Top 10 in case you want to read further:
- Heart disease: Age-adjusted rate: 167.0 Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the U.S.
- Cancer: Age-adjusted rate: 161.2 Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the U.S.
- Chronic lower respiratory disease: Age-adjusted rate: 40.5 CLRD is the third leading cause.
Here is another group of facts that I thought to be interesting, since it focuses on women:
- Heart disease is the leading cause of death for women in the United States, killing 299,578 women in 2017—or about 1 in every 5 female deaths.2
- Heart disease is the leading cause of death for African American and white women in the United States. Among American Indian and Alaska Native women, heart disease and cancer cause roughly the same number of deaths each year. For Hispanic and Asian or Pacific Islander women, heart disease is second only to cancer as a cause of death.3
- About 1 in 16 women age 20 and older (6.2%) have coronary heart disease, the most common type of heart disease:4
- About 1 in 16 white women (6.1%), black women (6.5%), and Hispanic women (6%)
- About 1 in 30 Asian women (3.2%)