Wear Red Day
HRinNH
1,432 Posts
Thought you'd like to know that:
Tomorrow, February 3, is the national "wear red day" as deemed by the American Heart Association's "Go Red for Women" campaign. Many women are surprised to learn that cardiovascular disease claims more women's lives than the next six leading causes of death combined! About 500,000 women's lives are lost each year due to heart disease. And yet, that doesn't have to be.
Women need to be aware of a few vital numbers: their blood pressure, their cholesterol levels, and their percentage of body fat. Your physician should be able to provide you with this information and counsel you on how to improve these numbers.
There are several things women can do to reduce their risk of cardiovascular disease including adhering to a healthy diet, lowering "bad" cholesterol levels, exercising regularly, maintaining a healthy weight, and refusing to smoke.
Symptoms of a heart attack in women start slowly with mild pain or discomfort and increase to:
* Shortness of breath (can occur without chest discomfort)
* Nausea and light-headedness
* Flu-like symptoms, including chills and cold sweats
* Heart palpitations
* Chest pain, tightness or pressure in the center of the chest that lasts more than a few minutes
* Pain or discomfort in one or both arms (especially the left arm), the back, between the shoulder blades, the neck, the jaw, or the stomach
* Heartburn and indigestion
* Extreme fatigue
To be safe, call 911 if you experience or witness any of these symptoms in others.
Heart disease is often called the silent killer because most women develop it over years, and yet do not know they have it until a heart attack occurs.
Tomorrow, February 3, is the national "wear red day" as deemed by the American Heart Association's "Go Red for Women" campaign. Many women are surprised to learn that cardiovascular disease claims more women's lives than the next six leading causes of death combined! About 500,000 women's lives are lost each year due to heart disease. And yet, that doesn't have to be.
Women need to be aware of a few vital numbers: their blood pressure, their cholesterol levels, and their percentage of body fat. Your physician should be able to provide you with this information and counsel you on how to improve these numbers.
There are several things women can do to reduce their risk of cardiovascular disease including adhering to a healthy diet, lowering "bad" cholesterol levels, exercising regularly, maintaining a healthy weight, and refusing to smoke.
Symptoms of a heart attack in women start slowly with mild pain or discomfort and increase to:
* Shortness of breath (can occur without chest discomfort)
* Nausea and light-headedness
* Flu-like symptoms, including chills and cold sweats
* Heart palpitations
* Chest pain, tightness or pressure in the center of the chest that lasts more than a few minutes
* Pain or discomfort in one or both arms (especially the left arm), the back, between the shoulder blades, the neck, the jaw, or the stomach
* Heartburn and indigestion
* Extreme fatigue
To be safe, call 911 if you experience or witness any of these symptoms in others.
Heart disease is often called the silent killer because most women develop it over years, and yet do not know they have it until a heart attack occurs.
Comments
I don't want to answer for Cheryl, but I think it's because for years far too many doctors have viewed heart disease to be a predominately male problem -- resulting in heart-related diseases in women going undetected.
[url]http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/conditions/02/01/health.heart.reut/index.html[/url]