Tools You Can Use

Interactive Atlas of Heart Disease and Stroke—Check out CDC’s award-winning online mapping tool for access to national, state, and county-level maps of heart disease and stroke. Need specific information? Get a breakdown by race/ethnicity, gender, age group, and more.
Before You Eat the Church Food—Watch this video from the Association of Black Cardiologists to learn about the steps leaders and members of faith communities are taking to stay healthier and reduce their risk for heart attack and stroke.
Public health educational resources—Find helpful tips for training medical residents and other health care providers on medication adherence; prevention, treatment, and control of high cholesterol; hypertension and sodium reduction; and smoking cessation.
Materials to address health disparities—Decreasing disparities in heart health is a priority for Million Hearts^®. Tailor messages for your audience with these materials for ethnically diverse communities produced by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.
Lace up and get moving—Motivate your patients to be physically active with these videos from the campaign to get America walking—Every Body Walk!

Million Hearts^® in the Community

Million Hearts^® 4 MO works to prevent heart attacks and strokes in Missouri. The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, Primaris, the American Heart Association, the Missouri Primary Care Association, and the Missouri Pharmacy Association are collaborating with physician champions across Missouri to improve heart health. To join the effort or learn more about the champion program, contact Kris Kummerfeld at the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.
We know what it takes to manage hypertension: Detect, connect, and control. The recent CDC Grand Rounds featured success stories from two health systems and one major U.S. metropolitan area that are bringing together the public health and health care sectors to share data and collaborate on effective interventions to improve blood pressure control. Watch the Grand Rounds on YouTube, browse the slides, and get inspired!

Let us know what you're doing to advance Million Hearts^® in your community! Send us a short description with some key points, and we may feature you in a future e-Update!

The Science of Million Hearts^®

New Institute of Medicine (IOM) report on sodium evidence. CDC commissioned the IOM to evaluate the results, study designs, and methodological approaches used to assess the relationship between sodium intake and health outcomes in scientific studies published between 2003 and 2012. The IOM committee focused its findings and conclusions on studies that measured direct health outcomes, not including high blood pressure. The IOM report, published in May 2013, noted that nearly all Americans eat too much sodium and could benefit from reducing their intake to 2,300 milligrams (mg) per day. The committee found that the evidence it reviewed was insufficient and inconsistent to conclude whether sodium intake of less than 2,300 mg per day was associated with higher or lower risk for heart disease and stroke. A subsequent commentary in JAMA noted that decreasing sodium in the food environment and giving individuals more choice would likely benefit public health.
Blood pressure and cholesterol control can make a big difference. Improving control of high blood pressure and high “bad” cholesterol in patients with both conditions would help the nation achieve heart disease prevention goals, according to data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The authors of this study, from the Medical University of South Carolina and the College of Charleston, said their study shows that effective treatment of high blood pressure and high cholesterol could reduce coronary heart disease by 50% or more.
New study finds blood pressure up in kids and high salt intake. According to a new study in the Journal of the American Heart Association, rates of elevated blood pressure in children have risen with increased salt intake over the past 20 years. The study’s findings emphasize that high sodium intake in children and adolescents is cause for concern.