By Alana Mauger

February is American Heart Month – the ideal time to take inventory of your personal heart health and to learn or brush up on lifesaving skills like CPR and First Aid.

For this year’s theme, the CDC is shining a light on hypertension, or high blood pressure, a leading risk factor for heart disease and stroke. Most people with high blood pressure don’t have any symptoms, which means they probably don’t have their blood pressure checked regularly. In fact, according to the CDC, about 1 in 3 U.S. adults with high blood pressure aren’t even aware they have it and are not being treated to control it.

Prevent and Manage High Blood Pressure

Living a healthy lifestyle can help keep your blood pressure in a healthy range. The CDC recommends you practice the following healthy living habits:

• Measure your blood pressure – Measuring your blood pressure on a regular basis is an important first step to better health. Because high blood pressure and elevated blood pressure often have no symptoms, checking your blood pressure is the only way to know for sure whether it is too high.

• Eat a healthy diet – In addition to eating lots of fruits and veggies, choose a variety of foods that are rich in potassium, fiber and protein and are lower in sodium and saturated fat. Visit the CDC’s Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity webpage to learn more about healthy eating and nutrition.

• Maintain a healthy weight – Being overweight increases your risk for high blood pressure. If you know your height and weight, you can calculate your body mass index (BMI) on the CDC’s Assessing Your Weight webpage.

• Be physically active – The U.S. Health Department’s Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans recommends that adults get at least 2 hours and 30 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise, such as brisk walking or bicycling, every week. That’s about 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week. Children and teens should get 1 hour of physical activity every day.

• Don’t smoke – Smoking raises your blood pressure and puts you at higher risk for heart attack and stroke. If you do not smoke, don’t start. If you do smoke, quitting will lower your risk for heart disease. Check out the CDC’s Smoking and Tobacco Use webpage for info on quitting.

• Limit alcohol – Consuming too much alcohol can raise your blood pressure. Men should have no more than 2 alcoholic drinks per day, and women should have no more than 1 alcoholic drink per day. Visit the CDC’s Alcohol and Public Health webpage for to learn more.

• Get enough sleep – Getting enough sleep is important to your overall health and helps keep your heart and blood vessels healthy. Not getting enough sleep on a regular basis is linked to a higher risk of heart diseases, blood pressure and stroke. Learn more on the CDC’s Sleep and Sleep Disorders webpage.

Learn Lifesaving Skills

Cardiac arrest claims thousands of lives every year. By learning how to perform CPR and use an AED (Automated External Defibrillator), you can help sustain someone’s life in the moments before they can receive medical retreatment.

The Red Cross offers next-generation CPR, AED and first aid classes in-person, online and via blended approach, so you can choose the format that works best for you. Visit redcross.org/takeaclass to browse the selection of courses and to sign up.

You can also download the free Red Cross First Aid App for instant access to information on handling the most common first aid emergencies, including cardiac arrest, today.