5 ways to help prevent heart diseaseImprove your mental health, consider drinking a glass of wine each day, local experts say.

American Heart Month events

Here is a sampling of screenings and events taking place in February throughout our region in recognition of American Heart Month.

1. Premier Health is offering free heart health screenings. No appointment is necessary at most locations. Here is a sampling of these screenings. To learn more, go to startforyourheart.com, or call 1-866-608-FIND.

7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Feb. 20, Miami Valley Hospital, One Wyoming Street, Dayton

2. Kettering Health Network encourages you to get the Healthy Arteries Screening, which detects plaque and artery wall thickness in neck arteries to show artery age and blood flow issues in leg arteries. The screening also includes an abdominal aorta scan. The cost is $139 for all four exams. Call (937) 558-3988 to schedule an appointment. Here is more information on the screenings.

3. Get free heart month screenings at the Health Fair from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Feb. 9, at Atrium Sports Medicine & Physical Therapy in the lower level of the Countryside YMCA, located at 1697 Deerfield Road in Lebanon. Free consultations with physicians, registered nurses, physical therapists and other professionals will be part of the event. For more information, call (513) 934-3850.

4. Mercy Health – Mt. Airy Hospital will hold a free lecture titled “Are You at Risk for Congestive Heart Failure?” The lecture will run from 6 to 7 p.m. at the hospital, located at 2446 Kipling Ave. in Cincinnati. Seating is limited. Call (513) 956-3729, and press option 2 and then option 1, or go to e-mercy.com to register and reserve your seat.

5. Springfield Regional Medical Center invites you to attend “THE HEART OF WOMEN: Becoming my best me, mind body and spirit” from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Feb. 23, at Hollenbeck Bayley Conference Center in Springfield. The “morning of interactive events” will provide information on topics including how to exercise, manage stress and eat healthier, followed by lunch. Registration is required, and space is limited. Call (937) 328-8100 to register beginning Feb. 11. For more information, call (937) 328-7035.

6. “Atrial Fibrillation… The Beat Goes On” with speaker Dr. Abdul Wase will take place at 11:30 a.m. Feb. 5, at Earl Heck Community Center in Englewood. The event, co-hosted by Good Samaritan Hospital and BrookHaven Retirement Community, is free and includes a complimentary lunch. An RSVP is required. Call 1 (888) 265-8833.

Heart disease, the No. 1 cause of death for men and women in the United States, takes about 1 million lives each year, according to The Heart Foundation. More people die as a result of heart disease than due to AIDS and all cancers combined, and by 2020, heart disease will be the leading cause of death across the globe, the foundation said.

In commemmoration of American Heart Month, we bring you five ways that you can prevent heart disease that you may not have considered before, provided by Dr. Mukul Chandra, clinical associate professor of internal medicine at the Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine and director of Miami Valley Hospital’s Premier HeartWorks, and Mary Runkle, a medical student at Wright State University.

1. Don't smoke, or quit smoking. Smoking or using tobacco products is one of the biggest risk factors for developing heart disease. Smoking causes hardening of the arteries and puts the heart under considerable stress. The good news, though, is that when you quit smoking, the risk of heart disease drops by 50 to 70 percent within one year. And no matter how long or how much you smoked, you'll start reaping rewards as soon as you quit.

2. Optimize your state of mind. Maintaining good mental health, including socializing with friends and having a good support network, will give you a positive attitude. It has been found that people with depression have a 50 percent greater chance of dying of heart disease, even when other risk factors were taken into consideration. Heart disease has been linked to dementia and Alzheimer's disease. By treating your risk factors, you can delay cognitive decline. Keeping your mind active with puzzles, reading and other problem-solving activities will have benefits in improved mental and cardiovascular health.

3. Eat well. There's an app for that. Try the free apps Fooducate, (in) which you can scan a bar code and be given a nutrition based grade for the food, and MyFitnessPal, which can track food and fitness goals by scanning food bar codes. You can even motivate friends with this app. Shoot for greater than 4.5 cups of fruits and vegetables daily, along with fish greater than two times per week, and three one ounce servings of fiber-rich whole grains daily. Limit sodium intake to less than 1,500 milligrams per day and sugary beverages less than 450 calories (36 ounces) per week. Learn to recognize healthy portion size by using measuring cups or scales until you feel you can recognize it be sight alone.

4. Drink one glass of wine a day. Wine contains antioxidants found in the grape skins that have been shown to play a crucial role in cardioprotective abilities. These antioxidants maintain artery elasticity and slow down heart aging. If you would rather not drink wine every day, consider eating red grapes instead.

5. Consider low dose aspirin. If you have hypertension, diabetes and increased cholesterol, taking a baby aspirin (81 milligrams) daily can lower your risk of heart attack and stroke by nearly one third. It is not for everyone and should be done under the supervision of your doctor. This over the counter drug for pennies a day can decrease your future cost of cardiovascular disease exponentially.