Because February
7 -14 is Congenital Heart Awareness Week!
How will you celebrate Congenital Heart Awareness Week?
There are many ways you can help promote Heart Health:
Wear RED!
Sign up for a Congenital
Heart Walk
Donate items for care bags for families with children in the
hospital
Call your local radio station and ask them to announce CHD Awareness
week.
Compose a brief
newsletter with CHD facts and send it to all of your Email contacts.
Tweet to all of your followers.
Create a personal
fundraising page for your favorite heart organization
Go
to your Facebook page, change your profile picture to a
CHD symbol and Post a message about
CHD.
Mail Valentines
Cards with a CHD sticker to all of your friends, family, and neighbors.
Surprise someone by sending them an eCard
Participate in a Research Study at your heart hospital.
Research is vital in learning about heart defects and heart disease.
Talk to anyone
who will listen and tell them what you know about CHD’s.
Share your
personal CHD story – Go ahead – You’ve Earned It!
Ask your local
girl scouts or boy scouts to make a heart craft and earn a heart badge.
Cook heart healthy dinners all week.
Post a Blog on your
website about CHD.
Make a Donation to your
favorite "heart" organization.
Give blood! There are
many drives scheduled in your area during CHD week.
Organize your own blood drive. Blood is a precious commodity to those
having heart surgery.
What is a congenital heart defect? CHD’s are structural problems
with the heart present at birth. They result when a mishap occurs during
heart development soon after conception and often before the mother is aware
she is pregnant. Defects range in severity from simple to problems, such
as “holes” between chambers of the heart, to very severe malformations, such as
complete absence of one or more chambers or valves.
Who is at risk to have a child with a congenital heart defect? Anyone can
have a child with a congenital heart defect. Out of 1000 births, 8 babies
will have some form of CHD, most of which are mild. If you or other family
members have already had a baby with a heart defect, your risk of having a baby
with heart disease may be higher.
How many people in the United States have a congenital heart defect? Estimates
suggest that about 1,000,000 Americans have a congenital heart
defect. Approximately 35,000 babies are born with a defect each year.
Why do congenital heart defects occur? Most of the time we do not
know. Although the reason defects occur is presumed to be genetic, only a
few genes have been discovered that have been linked to the presence of heart
defects. Rarely the ingestion of some drugs and the occurrence of some
infections during pregnancy can cause defects.
How can I tell if my baby or child has a congenital heart defect? Severe
heart disease generally becomes evident during the first few months after
birth. Some babies are blue or have very low blood pressure shortly after
birth. Other defects cause breathing difficulties, feeding problems, or
poor weight gain. Minor defects rarely cause symptoms. While most
heart murmurs in children are normal, some may be due to defects.
How serious is a heart problem? CHD’s are the most common birth defect
and are the number one cause of death from birth defects during the first year
of life. Nearly twice as many children die from CHD in the United States
each year as die from all forms of childhood cancers combined. Over 91,000
life years are lost each year in the US due to congenital heart disease. Charges
for care exceed 2.2 billion dollars, for inpatient surgery alone.
Are things improving for those diagnosed with a CHD? Definitely. Overall
mortality has significantly declined over the past few decades. For
example, in the 1960s and 1970s the risk of dying following congenital heart
surgery was about 30% and today it is around 5%.
There
are so many things we can all do to raise awareness. Most people don’t
know that congenital heart defects are the most common defects in the United
States. An estimated 1 in 40,000 babies - 1 in every 100 infants, are born with
a CHD and some are not diagnosed until years after birth.
It’s
going to be an exciting week – so get out there and
let’s
help spread that awareness!
I can proudly tell you that I love you, even though people have laughed, it was so ordinary thing always.
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