Contact:
Jason Merrill
314-286-0302
[email protected]

ST. LOUIS - The Washington University and Barnes-Jewish Heart & Vascular Center and the American Heart Association are partnering on a new initiative to improve the heart health of St. Louisans with the “My Heart. My Life.” program.

“My Heart. My Life.” is a national movement designed to guide and influence healthy eating and encourage physical activity in an effort to reduce heart disease and stroke risk.

The importance of the movement is highlighted by a Heart Association survey showing 39 percent of the population considers themselves in ideal cardiovascular health while in reality only one percent of the U.S. population is truly in that category.

“Preventing heart disease before it starts can save countless lives,” says Patti Crimmins Reda, RN, MSN, Heart and Vascular Center executive director. “We’re proud to partner with the Heart Association on getting out this critical message.”

In this partnership, Barnes-Jewish and the American Heart Association will work to increase heart disease prevention awareness through:

• “Life’s Simple 7 Action Plan,” encouraging St. Louisans to get active, eat better, lose weight, stop smoking, control cholesterol, manage blood pressure and reduce blood sugar.
• Community events such as Barnes-Jewish’s “In the Kitchen” series educating the public on healthy eating and physical activity.
• Custom shopping lists featuring prices and sodium content for key items at area grocery stores for Barnes-Jewish heart failure patients.
• Sponsorship of the annual Heart Walk, the one to three mile non-competitive walk at Busch Stadium raising money to fight heart disease.

For more information, visit www.barnesjewish.org/myheartmylife.