Go red for heart health at Alaska VA Healthcare System

People in red flutter around the atrium, eventually gathering at the stairs for a large group photo. Everyone smiles widely, the staff at Alaska VA Healthcare System are a sea of red in the brightly lit area.

February is American Heart Month and on Feb. 7 employees at Alaska VA Healthcare System wore red to generate awareness of heart disease and stroke.

Veterans in Alaska are very active. Their hearts play a big role in doing the activities they love, whether hiking in the beautiful Alaskan wilderness or keeping up with their kids’ play.

Rachel Walker, Registered Nurse Care Manager, knows the importance of heart health for Veterans. She describes heart disease as an inability for the heart to get good blood flow because of clogged arteries.

There are many services available to Veterans at Alaska VA Healthcare System to help oversee cardiovascular health. One service is the MOVE program, an educational program that helps Veterans with weight management based on a whole health concept. Alaska VA Healthcare System also has a nutritionist that can go over Veterans’ diets with them for health issues and help them manage their wellness.

As Ms. Walker says, “We only have one body, one heart…we definitely need to treat it like it’s our best friend and do the best we can to just take care of it and take care of ourselves so we can have lots of time left with our family and friends.”

Heart disease remains the leading cause of death for both men and women in the United States . Alaska VA Healthcare System is especially concerned about the threat of heart disease to women at their facility. The number of women Veterans continues to grow and with it grows the concern for women’s heart health.

Melody Quesenberry, Women Veterans Health Coordinator, is spearheading the Go Red Campaign at the Alaska VA Healthcare System to create awareness of the risk to women Veterans’ heart health.

“We encourage our women Veterans to stop by and pick up some additional information, to discuss their risk with their primary care provider, and engage in a healthy life style.”

It’s when our hearts start to fail us that we realize how important it is to keep them strong and healthy for our everyday living. A number of factors play into our heart health: family history, exercise, diet, smoking, high blood pressure, and cholesterol.

While you can’t control your age or family history, you can certainly track your numbers. Prevent heart disease by measuring your numbers and picking up healthy habits, go to https://www.cdc.gov/heartdisease/prevention.htm for more tips on how to lower your risk for heart disease.

Courtesy of Katie Yearley, Public Affairs Specialist