“美国心脏月”拉开序幕之际，著名的梅西百货公司（Macy's Department Store）将纽约店装饰成红色。

华盛顿——美国和国际卫生机构都以2月为契机，提高公众对引发猝死的几大疾病的认识。

在美国，国家心脏、肺和血液研究所（National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute，以下简称国家心肺血液研究所）在其它非政府组织的支持下，将2月定为“美国心脏月”（American Heart Month）展开宣传。“美国心脏月”的主题之一是，让女性充分认识到，那种认为男性更容易患心脏疾病的流行看法不正确，女性患心脏病的危险其实很大。

隶属美国国家卫生研究院（National Institutes of Health）的国家心肺血液研究所正在推广“心之真相”（The Heart Truth）活动。活动基于一些真实生活中的女性的经历。这些女性在采取措施积极保护自己心脏健康的同时，启发和鼓励他人在生活方式上做出有利于心脏健康的改变。

国家心肺血液研究所主任加里·吉本斯（Gary H. Gibbons）医生说：“过去的11年中，‘心之真相’活动使人们更加认识到心脏病是美国女性的主要杀手。如何缩小认识与预防之间的差距仍然是公共健康的当务之急。‘心之真相’活动提供的信息、工具和支持，让女性获得作出转变的巨大力量。”

控制胆固醇水平、控制血压以及不吸烟是降低女性和男性患心脏病风险的关键策略。饮食均衡、锻炼活动和维持健康的体重等生活习惯因素也可以最大程度地降低患心脏病和其他心血管疾病的可能性。

尽管国家心肺血液研究所的这一活动针对的是美国妇女，但其传递的信息对于世界各地人都有重要意义。总部位于日内瓦的世界卫生组织（World Health Organization）指出，心血管疾病——包括心肌梗塞、中风、高血压、外周动脉疾病和心力衰竭——在世界各地都是导致死亡的头号杀手。

据世界卫生组织估计，2008年死于心血管疾病的人数为1730万（2008年为有数据分析的最新年份）。心血管疾病死亡人数最高的是低收入和中等收入国家——占相关死亡总人数的80%。

美国“心之真相”活动所提倡的健康生活习惯与世界卫生组织为全球提出的减少心血管疾病的建议一致。世界卫生组织的报告指出，80%的心脏病和中风都源于高危生活方式。

世界卫生组织与国际抗癌联盟（Union for International Cancer Control）一道将2月4日作为世界抗癌日（World Cancer Day）。正如“美国心脏月”那样，在日历上标记这一疾病的目的是为了提高对相关危险性的认识，并且宣传这样一个信息：选择正确的生活方式是强有力的抗癌措施。

癌症是对可影响身体任何部位的一大类疾病的通称。病情的共同特征是，在身体某个部位出现异常细胞快速生长，随后侵入邻近组织并扩散到其他器官。

2008年，癌症夺走了约760万人的生命，占全部死亡人数的13%。肺癌、胃癌和肝癌发生频率最高。世界卫生组织指出烟草是最主要的单一风险因素，导致全球22%的癌症死亡和71%的肺癌死亡。

世界卫生组织的报告说，30%以上的癌症死亡可以通过减少生活方式中的风险因素来避免，例如减少吸烟、饮酒、不健康的饮食，并加强活动锻炼。

The renowned Macy's Department Store lit its New York storefront in red at the opening of American Heart Month.

Washington — Both U.S. and international health institutions use the month of February as an opportunity to raise awareness about diseases that are among the greatest causes of premature death.

In the United States, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) promotes February as American Heart Month with the support of other nongovernmental organizations. One main theme of the event is to drive home the message to women that they face a serious risk of heart disease despite a widely held but erroneous impression in the lay public that men are much more vulnerable to the condition.

NHLBI, one of the National Institutes of Health, is promoting The Heart Truth, a campaign based on real-life stories of women who have become proactive in protecting their heart health at the same time they inspire and motivate others to make heart-healthy lifestyle changes.

"Over the past 11 years, The Heart Truth campaign has raised awareness that heart disease is the leading killer of women in the United States," said Dr. Gary H. Gibbons, director of the NHLBI. "Closing the gap between awareness and prevention of heart disease remains a critical public health imperative, and with the information, tools and support offered by The Heart Truth, women have tremendous power to create change.”

Managing cholesterol levels, controlling blood pressure and not smoking are among the key strategies for reducing the risk of heart disease for both women and men. Lifestyle habits such as a balanced diet, physical activity and maintaining a healthy weight also minimize the prospect of heart disease and other cardiovascular diseases (CVDs).

While the NHLBI's campaign is directed toward U.S. women, the message is an important one for people everywhere. The World Health Organization (WHO), cites CVDs — to include heart attacks, stroke, high blood pressure, peripheral artery disease and heart failure — as the Number 1 cause of death for people worldwide.

WHO estimates that CVDs were the cause of death for 17.3 million people in 2008, the most recent year for which the data has been analyzed. The greatest burden of CVDs is carried by low- and middle-income countries, where 80 percent of all deaths occur.

The healthy habits promoted by the U.S. Heart Truth campaign are the same ones that WHO advises to reduce CVDs worldwide. The Geneva-based organization reports that 80 percent of heart disease and stroke stems from high-risk lifestyles.

WHO joins the Union for International Cancer Control February 4 in recognizing World Cancer Day. As with American Heart Month, the purpose of marking this disease on the calendar is to raise awareness about the dangers and to promote the message that proper lifestyle choices are a strong defense against cancer.

Cancer is a broad term that describes a large group of diseases that can affect any part of the body. The common characteristic is the rapid creation of abnormal cells that begins in one area of the body but then invades adjoining tissues and spreads to other organs.

Cancer took about 7.6 million lives in 2008, accounting for 13 percent of all deaths. Lung, stomach and liver cancers are the most frequently occurring. WHO cites tobacco as the single most important risk factor, causing 22 percent of global cancer deaths and 71 percent of lung cancer deaths.

WHO reports that more than 30 percent of cancer deaths could be avoided by reducing the lifestyle risk factors of tobacco use, alcohol use, unhealthy diet and physical inactivity.