DOWAGIAC — Standing in front of a group of area seniors, fitness instructor Virginia Martynowicz told the story of how her grandfather had a heart attack last year.

“At the time, he didn’t have the knowledge he does now about how to take care of his heart,” she said. “If he did, he might not be going through what he is now. … I don’t want any of you to go through that.”

Thursday afternoon, the Cass County Council on Aging, located at Front Street Crossing in Dowagiac, hosted a presentation on cardiovascular health as part of the city of Dowagiac’s ongoing One Story program, with Martynowicz as the presenter.

The One Story program is a collaborative program running until the end of May that involves a series of events relating to the theme of a chosen book, this year’s being Mitch Albom’s “Tuesdays with Morrie” and N.L. Sharp’s “Effie’s Image.” The overall theme for this year’s program is “connecting generations.”

The COA’s program Thursday fit into the theme, as cardiovascular health is something that everyone, regardless of age, needs to be concerned with, Martynowicz said.

Though the fitness nature of Thursday’s program might seem out of place in the One Story program, Bobbie Jo Hartline, who has been very involved in the planning of the One Story Program, agreed with Martynowicz that health has a place in the program.

“We appreciate the diversity in these events, just like we appreciate the diversity in our community,” Hartline said. “This program is all about sharing stories, and if we aren’t healthy, we won’t be around very long to share our stories.”

Thursday’s presentation covered a range of topics related to cardiovascular health including a healthy diet and exercise. The presentation began with a video that explained the way that heart works, before Martynowicz moved into her presentation that explained ways to take care of the heart. She even provided attendants with a heart healthy recipe that they could take home to put into practice the advice that she had doled out.

Martynowicz expressed the need for people to take care of their hearts, as many of the complications of an unhealthy cardiovascular system are serious and as heart failure is the number one cause for early death in the U.S.

“A lot of people think if they can’t see it, it’s not harming them,” she said. “But living a sedentary lifestyle, not eating right, things like these, can really, really harm you.”

In addition to discussing the dangers of an unhealthy cardiovascular system, Martynowicz offered tips and solutions to help people take care of their hearts. She said that the number one reasons for cardiovascular damage, including lack of exercise, eating habits, obesity, tobacco use and over consumption, can be controlled by the individual.

“You can change your eating habits. You can change your lifestyle,” she said. “You can change this. It doesn’t have to be that just because your parents had problems, you have problems.”

Martynowicz said that she hoped people who attended her presentation would leave with new knowledge and a desire to take care of their cardiovascular health.

“Taking care of yourself is so important,” she said. “I want to help people live the best lives they can.”