Editor, The Times:
Another year and Heart and Stroke Foundation volunteers are gearing up for another annual fundraiser. Last year we succeeded our goal of $5,000. Great job! Let's keep up the momentum.
We are still in need of volunteers for the person to person campaign for most of the neighborhoods in the Clearwater area.
Buy-Low foods are once again on board supporting the Heart and Stroke Foundation. If you would like to volunteer time at the table at Buy-Low Foods, we have some openings.
For many tools for heart health, ideas, recipes and how to recognize a stroke are available at heartandstroke.bc.ca.
Learn what a stroke looks like.
The first time Stacey Yepes had a stroke, she immediately went to the emergency department. Having no visible symptoms and being in good health, she was told it was stress. Within a few days, she had two more strokes. The third time, when she felt her left side going numb, she grabbed her phone and hit record, so that she could show doctors exactly what she was experiencing. See the video on line. Learn what FAST means. Act FAST because the quicker you act, the more of the person you save.
New! The free online Heart & Stroke Risk Assessment now includes a Life Expectancy Calculator. Take the quick questionnaire and find out which healthy changes will add years to your life. Try it today.
The 2015 Heart and Stroke Foundation Report on the Health of Canadians is available on the site. It looks back on 60 years of life-saving, ground-breaking research, revealing astonishing improvements in diagnosis, treatments, and outcomes. However, these gains will be threatened as our population changes and some risk factors for heart disease are set to rise sharply.
“We have made incredible progress in improving the heart health of Canadians since the 1950s and 1960s,” says David Sculthorpe, CEO of the Heart and Stroke Foundation. “Back then of those who made it to hospital after a heart attack, 30 – 35 per cent did not survive. Today that number is down to five per cent."
In the 1950s cardiovascular disease was responsible for almost half of all deaths in Canada. Today cardiovascular disease is responsible for over one-quarter of all deaths in Canada.
Significant breakthroughs were gained from infants born with complex heart defects. In the 1950s only 20 per cent would reach adulthood. Today 90 per cent reach adulthood.
Your dollars make a difference.
Wendy Grimm, Clearwater and area spokesperson
Heart and Stroke Foundation