Styles to present ‘Cardiovascular Health and Wellness’ at library
(CONTRIBUTED)
MADISON – Residents can learn strategies for better heart health during “Cardiovascular Health and Wellness” at Madison Public Library.
Brenda Styles will speak on May 14 at noon. Styles works as a clinical nurse specialist at Madison Hospital and is involved with teaching, consulting, research, management and systems improvement.
Open to all adults, this free session will be the latest installment in collaboration between the hospital and library. “Funding for ‘Health Matters @ Madison’ was provided by a generous grant from the Huntsville Hospital Community Health Initiative,” library programming clerk Teresa Allison said.
“Heart disease is the number one cause of death for both men and women in the United States, claiming approximately 1 million lives annually. Every 33 seconds, someone dies from cardiovascular disease,” Styles said.
At the session, Styles will define heart disease and discuss risk factors, along with prevention, such as proper diet and exercise, smoking cessation and controlling blood pressure, diabetes, cholesterol, triglycerides and weight.
Approximately 90 percent of heart attacks worldwide are due to modifiable risk factors, she said.
Year-round, Huntsville Hospital’s clinical staff attends local events to promote heart health. “The Mobile Medical Unit travels throughout our region to provide free health screenings and education to many under-served citizens,” Styles said.
Styles offered two misconceptions about heart disease:
* “Heart disease runs in my family; there’s nothing I can do to prevent it.”
* “I’m too young to worry about heart disease.”
People who are overweight are at two to six times the risk of developing heart disease. “Obesity has become a global epidemic,” Styles said. “One in 10 adults worldwide now is considered obese. The occurrence of obesity has more than doubled since 1980.”
The hospital routinely posts tips about cardiac health on social media.
For more information, visit heart.org, cdc.gov/HeartDisease or huntsvillehospital.org and click “Hospital Services” and then “Cardiovascular Services.”
