State legislators helped shine a light on the prevalence of cardiovascular disease and the importance of a healthy lifestyle to prolong life expectancy. Kenai Rep. Ron Gillham’s HCR 10 passed on a 36-2 vote by naming February as American Heart Month.
Gilham said:
“Every year in the United States, 850,000 individuals have heart attacks. Of those, 659,000 of them will pass away. That’s one out of every four deaths in the United States. On average someone dies of cardiovascular disease every 36 seconds, that’s 2,383 people per day. What happened to me was totally unexpected. I always tried to eat healthy, exercise when I can. What I found out in my case is 30-33% of heart issues are genetic. Lifestyle has a lot to do with certain health issues, we can control those through the way we live, but we can’t control the genetics. As you know, on January 26th, I suffered a near fatal heart attack. I was one of the lucky ones. I survived. During my time in the hospital, I had the opportunity to talk with nurses who take care of cardiac patients and they told me they would like to see more information put out about heart health and some preventative measures about a person can take that may possibly prevent a heart attack and could save your life. Getting a checkup only takes an hour or so of your time. It’s painless. It’s safe and a whole lot less expensive than a life flight or a hospital stay.”
The American Heart Association’s 2030 impact goal seeks to equitably increase healthy life expectancy from 66 years of age to at least 68 years of age across the United States, and the Alaska House of Representatives joins the organization in naming February 2022 American Heart Month with the House Concurrent Resolution.
Its companion legislation in the State Senate is sponsored by Sens. Kawasaki, Gray-Jackson, and Costello.
Transcribed audio courtesy of KTOO 360TV.