• An adult heart only weighs about 11 ounces or about the size of a fist.
• Your heart beats about 100,000 times in one day and about 35 million times in a year. During an average lifetime, the human heart will beat more than 2.5 billion times.
• The heart pumps about 1 million barrels of blood during an average lifetime—that's enough to fill more than 3 super tankers.
• A kitchen faucet would need to be turned on all the way for at least 45 years to equal the amount of blood pumped by the heart in an average lifetime.
• The “thump-thump” of a heartbeat is the sound made by the four valves of the heart closing as it pumps blood all around your body.
• A woman’s heart typically beats faster than a man’s. The heart of an average man beats approximately 70 times a minute, whereas the average woman has a heart rate of 78 beats per minute.
Random Facts
Heart health is so important to keep this vital organ working properly. Unfortunately, in Canada, every 7 minutes, someone dies from heart disease or stroke. Heart disease and stroke are two of the three leading causes of death in Canada.
Cardiovascular diseases are defined as diseases and injuries of the cardiovascular system: the heart, the blood vessels of the heart and the system of blood vessels (veins and arteries) throughout the body and within the brain. Stroke is the result of a blood flow problem in the brain. It is considered a form of cardiovascular disease.
Nine in 10 Canadians (90%) have at least one risk factor for heart disease or stroke (smoking, alcohol, physical inactivity, obesity, high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, diabetes).
Heart & Stroke Foundation
All of the above are risk factors that you can manage to keep your heart healthy. Please take a look at some of our previous blogs for some great heart healthy suggestions.
The Leduc Beaumont Devon Primary Care Network offers a Heart Healthy class at our Leduc office. Heart Healthy is a two-hour class that addresses both hypertension and Dyslipidemia helping patients to understand the importance of managing both of these conditions. Heart healthy food options are emphasized. Patients learn how to read nutrition labels looking for sodium and fat content. They learn how to minimize sodium and cholesterol intake and to make healthier food choices.
This class is accessed through referral from your LBD PCN family physician.
For more information, please call Christina Vesty, RN and LBD PCN Chronic Disease Management Coordinator at 780-986-6624.
