A wholesome approach to heart health for American Heart Month

How’s your heart, physically and emotionally?

February is American Heart Month and this year the focus is on empowering Black adults to reduce their risks of heart problems. 

That’s because the CDC says Black Americans ages 35 to 54 are two times more likely to die from heart disease than white adults.

MPR News host Angela Davis digs into why that is and what you can do about it, beyond eating healthy and exercising.

Listen back to some of our Wednesday wellness shows that cover how to sleep better and how to forgive someone and ease that emotional and physical agony.

Hear from two Black cardiologists who will tell us how to improve the heart health of Black Minnesotans.

Guests:

• Mary Hayes Grieco is the author of the book: “Unconditional Forgiveness: A Simple and Proven Method to Forgive Everyone and Everything.” She’s also the director of The Midwest Institute for Forgiveness Training in Minneapolis.  

• Dr. Michael Howell is a neurologist who specializes in sleep disorders. He’s program director of the Clinical Sleep Medicine Fellowship at Hennepin Healthcare and the University of Minnesota, as well as medical director of the Fairview Sleep Center in Edina.

• Dr. Virend Somers is a Mayo Clinic cardiologist with expertise in the metabolic and cardiovascular aspects of sleep.

• Dr. LaPrincess Brewer is a cardiologist and assistant professor at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester. Her research focuses on heart disease prevention and testing new public health approaches to eliminating the racial disparities in cardiovascular disease. 

• Dr. Courtney Jordan Baechler is medical director of health equity and health promotion at Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation at Allina Health. She’s also a cardiologist practicing with Allina Health.

Subscribe to the MPR News with Angela Davis podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or RSS. 

Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.