Heart Health

From education and prevention, to diagnosis, treatment, and aftercare, Cardiac Services at Kishwaukee Community Hospital can help you with heart-related conditions. You can have confidence that you are receiving the utmost quality of health care, in a premier facility right here in our own community.

UPCOMING KNOW YOUR NUMBERS EVENTS:

Screenings include a blood draw for cholesterol and blood sugar levels, blood pressure, body mass
index (BMI) & waist measurement.

Click here for other heart health classes!

Controllable Risk Factors of Heart Disease:

• Smoking
• High LDL, or "bad" cholesterol and low HDL, or "good" cholesterol
• Uncontrolled hypertension (high blood pressure)
• Physical inactivity
• Obesity (more than 20% over one's ideal body weight)
• Uncontrolled diabetes
• High C-reactive protein
• Uncontrolled stress and anger

"Heart Disease." WebMD

Facts about Heart Disease:

• 102 million U.S. adults have high cholesterol.
  "Cholesterol Statistics." American Heart Association
  
  

  Solution: For many people, making changes to their lifestyle—eating better, losing weight, and exercising—will be enough to lower cholesterol. Others may benefit from medicines. Often, a combination of these approaches is the right choice.

• 1/3 of adult women have cardiovascular disease.
  "Women and Cardiovascular Diseases—Statistics 2009." American Heart Association
  
  

  Solution: Research shows that people can lower their risk for cardiovascular disease enormously -- by as much as 82 percent -- simply by adopting sensible health habits, regardless of age, background, or health status.

• #1 cause of death for men and women in the United States is heart disease.
  "February is Heart Health Month." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
  
  

  Solution: 5 medication-free strategies to help prevent heart disease: Don't smoke or use tobacco products, get active, eat a heart-healthy diet, maintain a healthy weight, and get regular health screenings.

• 42,500 Illinois residents die of heart disease each year.
  The Burden of Cardiovascular Disease and Obesity in the State of Illinois. Illinois Cardiovascular Disease Prevention Task Force
  
  

  Solution: 5 medication-free strategies to help prevent heart disease: Don't smoke or use tobacco products, get active, eat a heart-healthy diet, maintain a healthy weight, and get regular health screenings.

• 33% of Americans have a heart disease risk factor.
  Heart Disease and Stroke: The Nation’s Leading Killers Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
  
  

  Solution: Exactly when do you go from having risk factors to having heart disease? The first step is getting a doctor's exam.

• 64% of women who died suddenly of heart disease had no previous symptoms.
  Lifeline Screening. “Health Facts About Heart Disease”
  
  

  Solution: For many people, making changes to their lifestyle—eating better, losing weight, and exercising—will be enough to lower cholesterol. Others may benefit from medicines. Often, a combination of these approaches is the right choice.

• 2,600 Americans die every day from cardiovascular diseases.
  “Disease Awareness Program.” Quest Diagnostics
  
  

  Solution: Exactly when do you go from having risk factors to having heart disease? The first step is getting a doctor's exam.

• 1.5 Million heart attacks occur in the United States each year.
  “Heart Attack Facts.” Women’s Heart Foundation
  
  

  Solution: Manage stress and anger. Poorly controlled stress and anger can lead to heart attacks and strokes. Use stress and anger management techniques to lower your risk.

CPR & Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) Fact Sheet

(As of April 26, 2010)

• EMS treats nearly 300,000 victims of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest each year in the U.S.
• Less than eight percent of people who suffer cardiac arrest outside the hospital survive.
• Sudden cardiac arrest can happen to anyone at any time. Many victims appear healthy with no known heart disease or other risk factors.
• Sudden cardiac arrest is not the same as a heart attack. Sudden cardiac arrest occurs when electrical impulses in the heart become rapid or chaotic, which causes the heart to suddenly stop beating. A heart attack occurs when the blood supply to part of the heart muscle is blocked. A heart attack may cause cardiac arrest.

"CPR Statistics" American Heart Association