At a glance
February is American Heart Month, a time when all people—especially women—are encouraged to focus on their cardiovascular health. This toolkit contains facts and resources that anyone can use to raise awareness about the risks of heart disease and the importance of identifying and managing heart-related health conditions.
Heart disease quick facts
- Heart disease is very common. In the United States, heart disease is the leading cause of death for men, women, and people of most racial and ethnic groups.1 In 2022, 1 in every 5 deaths in the United States was caused by heart disease.12
- High blood pressure is a leading cause of heart disease. Nearly half of U.S. adults have high blood pressure, which puts them at risk for heart disease and stroke. And just 1 in 4 people with high blood pressure has it under control.3
- Heart disease is costly. The cost of health care services, medications, and lost productivity from heart disease amounted to $252.2 billion between 2019 and 2020.2
Keep Reading:
Heart Disease Facts
Shareable and printable tools in English and Spanish
- Managing My Blood Pressure: Use this printable list of questions to ask your health care team to help you manage your blood pressure. (Also available en español.)
- My Blood Pressure Log: You can use this printable log when you measure your own blood pressure. (Also available en español.)
- My First Blood Pressure Visit: Record important blood pressure–related information on this page before your appointments. (Also available en español.)
Caring about your heart health
- Preventing High Blood Pressure: Having a healthy plan with a variety of foods, keeping a healthy weight, and not smoking can help keep your blood pressure in a healthy range, which lowers your risk for heart disease and stroke.
- ABCS of Heart Health: Brought to you by Million Hearts®, this easy-to-remember mnemonic is a tried-and-true method for you take care of your heart health.
- Live to the Beat: This campaign aims to help adults take steps to prevent heart disease and stroke.
Resources for cardiovascular health care teams
- Improving Medication Adherence Among Patients with Hypertension: Only half of U.S. adults treated for high blood pressure take their medication as recommended.4 Learn methods to build trust with patients and understand their barriers.
- Grady Implementation Guide: This guide can help public health professionals establish better continuity of care among cardiologists, nursing staff, and clinic or department administrators.
- Hypertension in Pregnancy Change Package (HPCP): Outpatient clinical settings can use this guide to put systems in place that will improve the care they provide for women with hypertension in pregnancy.
- Hypertension Control Change Package (HCCP): This tool—filled with guidelines, resources, and news about advances in quality improvement—can be used by health centers and clinics to improve high blood pressure control.
- Heart Valve Disease Toolkits: These toolkits provide key messages about heart valve disease (HVD) and resources that can help your team, patients, and partner organizations better understand and communicate about HVD.
- Practitioners' Guide: Key Tenets of Successful Lifestyle Programs for Hypertension Control and Management: This guide highlights key tenets to tailor lifestyle interventions to different populations and settings where high blood pressure is an issue.
Spreading the word on social media
Follow CDC and Million Hearts® on social media and use the hashtag #HeartMonth when you share these resources for controlling high blood pressure, talking to patients about lifestyle changes, and more.
- LinkedIn: Million Hearts®
- X (Twitter): @CDCHeart_Stroke, @MillionHeartsUS
- Facebook: Million Hearts®
Content Source:
National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion; About the Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention
- National Center for Health Statistics. Multiple Cause of Death 2018–2022 on CDC WONDER Database. Accessed May 3, 2024. https://wonder.cdc.gov/mcd.html
- Martin SS, Aday AW, Almarzooq ZI, et al.; American Heart Association Council on Epidemiology and Prevention Statistics Committee; Stroke Statistics Subcommittee. 2024 heart disease and stroke statistics: a report of US and global data from the American Heart Association. Circulation. 2024;149:e347–e913.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Hypertension cascade: hypertension prevalence, treatment and control estimates among US adults aged 18 years and older applying the criteria from the American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association's 2017 Hypertension Guideline—NHANES 2017–March 2020. Published 2023. Accessed May 3, 2024. https://millionhearts.hhs.gov/data-reports/hypertension-prevalence.html
- Ho PM, Bryson CL, Rumsfeld JS. Medication adherence: its importance in cardiovascular outcomes. Circulation. 2009;119(23):3028–3035.