It’s Heart Month. Our February Sonoran Living Health Innovation Spotlight shares tips on heart healthy habits and shines a light on an Arizona company developing innovative therapies to help people with heart disease.
Your heart is arguably the hardest working muscle in your body. With every beat, your heart pumps out about 70 milliliters (two ounces) of blood every time it beats. Over the average person’s lifetime, it will beat over three billion times.
Unfortunately, more than 23 million people worldwide suffer from heart failure. It is the number one cause of medical problems and death in the developed world.
When you choose healthy behaviors, you can lower your heart disease risk while also preventing other serious chronic conditions like type 2 diabetes and even some kinds of cancer.
The CDC recommends 7 Tips for a heart healthy lifestyle:
- Learn Your Health History Know your risks and talk to your family and doctor about your health history.
- Eat a Healthy Diet Make healthy food choices like more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean meats, and low-fat dairy products. Eat less salt, saturated fat, and added sugar.
- Move More, Sit Less Get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity every week, plus muscle-strengthening activities at least 2 days a week.
- Quit smoking for the people you love. Start your quit plan today! Take the first step and call 1-800-QUIT-NOW for FREE support.
- Take Medicines as Directed If you take medicine to treat high cholesterol, high blood pressure, or diabetes, follow your doctor’s instructions carefully. Always ask questions if you don’t understand something. Never stop taking your medicine without talking to your doctor, nurse, or pharmacist.
- Rethink Your Drink Substitute water for sugary drinks to reduce calories. If you drink alcohol, do so in moderation.
- Monitor Your Blood Pressure at Home Self-measured blood pressure monitors (SMBPs) are easy and safe to use and your doctor can show you how to use one if you need help.
Heart Disease Can Damage Your Heart Muscle
Avery Therapeutics, Inc. is an Arizona company dedicated to developing tissue engineered therapeutics to treat diseases and injuries to human muscle. Avery’s lead product, MyCardia™, is being developed to address and treat heart failure.
MyCardia is a stable and robust allogeneic engineered tissue graft that can be manufactured at scale, cryopreserved, and shipped at 4C. In pre-clinical studies of heart failure, MyCardia resulted in improved left ventricular volume (systole and diastole) and myocardial mass, in addition to improved quality of life metrics such as daily activity and exercise tolerance, compared to untreated cohorts.
Note: MyCardia is in development and is not currently available for patients.
Throughout 2022, Sonoran Living fans will have the opportunity to learn about the Arizona life science innovators who are working to make life better for all of us. To learn more about Arizona Health Innovations, visit AZBio.org/AZAdvances.
Sonoran Living Health Innovation Spotlights and Segments are produced by ABC15 and are paid for by AZBio.