INDIANA – February is American Heart Month…and Saturday is National Heart Valve Disease Awareness Day.

Sue Peschin, with the Alliance for Aging Research, says Heart Valve Disease affects many people. “About 1 in 10 people over the age of 75 suffer from moderate-to-severe heart valve disease,” she said. Indiana has the 15th highest death rate in the country due to heart disease.

More than 46,000 Hoosiers die from it every year. Peschin adds that part of that is the high rates of obesity in the state and the number of older people in Indiana – both play factors in heart issues.