February is designated for the national awareness of heart disease, the No. 1 killer of both men and women in the United States. Because many people are affected by heart disease, students should know the causes, how to treat it and how to prevent it, experts say.

Heart disease refers to a number of conditions of the heart that may result in premature death, Evan Pattishall, clinical director of University Health Services, said.

Heart disease includes things like irregular heart beat, heart attack and heart failure, he added.

The disease includes all kinds of things that affect the cardiovascular system, Sherry Hunt, corporate events coordinator for the American Heart Association, said.

There are two categories of heart disease: acquired and congenital.

Acquired heart disease is the kind that causes heart attacks and strokes, Michelle Nickolaus, a certified registered nurse at Hershey Medical Center, said, while congenital heart disease is when there are holes in the heart.

About 8,000 children and 1 million adults are living with congenital heart disease, which occurs at birth, Nickolaus said.

Heart defects are the No. 1 birth defect, Hunt said.

"Heart disease affects people of all ages and increases with middle and older age," Terri Stone, cardiovascular health consultant for the Pennsylvania Department of Health, said. "African Americans and Latinos are at particularly high risk due to their high rates of risk factors leading to heart diseases."

Not only is heart disease the No. 1 killer of both men and women, but it is the No. 2 killer of children between the ages of 2 and 16, Hunt said.

"There is one death every 34 seconds due to heart disease," she said. "One in every 2.5 women will die of heart disease, but only one in 10 women are aware that heart disease is their greatest risk."

Barbara McDanel, Director of Health Services at Penn State Beaver, said heart disease kills more women than all cancers combined.

Heart disease is something you need to work on every day to prevent a stroke or heart attack by making changes in lifestyles and keeping up with those methods and changes every day, she said.

Heart disease is preventable and can be treated; however, it cannot be cured. Many factors can determine heart disease.

For instance, race, heredity and age all play a role in heart disease. However, you don't have any control over these things, Hunt said.

There are some factors which you can control, such as eating healthy foods, exercising, having a regular checkup, watching your weight, watching your cholesterol, avoiding excessive alcohol consumption and not smoking.

"The most important thing you can do to love your heart is to quit smoking," Hunt said.

Stone said that everyone can make healthy lifestyle changes to decrease risk factors for heart disease.

"Changes would include healthy diet choices and increased physical activity," she said.

Although heart disease tends to affect adults, college students can be at risk as well.

Hana Beckerle (freshman-journalism) said she doesn't think that heart disease is a concern among college students.

However, Nickolaus said college students more than 20 years old should know what their cholesterol numbers are.

McDanel said that she is seeing younger and younger people exhibiting signs of heart disease.

"Some students have no exercise in their lives," she said. "They are attached to their computers and cell phones, do not eat healthy, and they also have high blood pressure and high cholesterol."