Learn how to cut your heart disease risk — and how to help others when seconds count

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February is American Heart Month

It’s American Heart Month. Time to pay more attention to heart disease — the greatest health threat to Americans, and the leading cause of death worldwide.

Heart disease is often preventable when people adopt a healthy lifestyle. That includes:

Not smoking
Maintaining a healthy weight
Controlling blood sugar and cholesterol
Treating high blood pressure

Getting at least 150 minutes of moderate–intensity physical activity a week*
Getting regular checkups

*Check with your doctor before starting an exercise program.

February is also the month for the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women campaign and the message that heart disease isn’t only a man’s problem.

Physicians Mutual employee Kathy A. and her family had the scare of their lives a few years ago when her mother suffered a cardiac event. about her mother's sudden illness — and how the quick actions of her husband saved her life.