Love is in the air, and so is the push for heart health awareness, as San Diego County kicks off its "Love Your Heart" event, now in its 13th year, aiming to encourage locals to keep tabs on their blood pressure. In an effort to ward off the grim reaper, county officials are offering free blood pressure screenings across the county and south of the border beginning on Valentine's Day, reported by County News Center.

A stark reminder to us all, heart disease doesn't send a box of chocolates; it remains the U.S.'s top killer and the second in San Diego County, claiming close to 5,000 lives there in 2022, the County notes with a sense of urgency, they're rolling out screening stations through February 29, to nip this silent killer in the bud and offering a lifeline for those who may be oblivious to the risks they face every day, with heart disease being preventable but often going unchecked until it's too late.

With Nora Vargas, Chairwoman of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors, taking a no-nonsense approach this Valentine’s season, she insists, “This simple five-minute test can save your life,” showing that matters of the heart are not just for the romantic at heart.

Partnering with Mexican authorities, the campaign's outreach has not only been local but international, with over 228,000 blood pressure screenings to its name in border states and Ventanillas de Salud health centers within U.S. Mexican Consulates, because heart disease does not pause at geopolitical borders and neither does this campaign’s fight against it, Dr. Eric McDonald, interim director of the Health and Human Services Agency, underscored the extended event timeline, emphasizing the county's commitment to have as many people as possible “learn about their blood pressure numbers."

The "Love Your Heart" initiative is more than just an event; it's part of a comprehensive public health strategy tracking the so-called 3-4-50 principle—three behaviors leading to four conditions causing half the deaths in the County. Thankfully, things are looking up, with Dr. Wilma Wooten, the County’s public health officer, indicating an 18.9 percent downtick in 3-4-50 deaths from 2012 to 2022 as a result of county efforts, making the case that knowledge truly is power—especially when it comes to your health.

Last year, the campaign reached a staggering 7.8 million people and managed to equip over 3,200 at-risk individuals with free blood pressure monitors, demonstrating San Diego County's commitment to not just educate, but to equip their residents in the fight against heart disease.