Heart Healthy Tips

Women’s Heart Health

This month was all about heart health.  February was American Heart Month, and the JLS hoped to help women keep their hearts healthy with tweets to raise awareness about heart disease. 

Here's a wrap-up:

THE STATS

According to the American Heart Association (AHA), heart disease is the number one cause of deaths in women, causing one in three deaths each year in the U.S..  Approximately one woman dies of heart disease per minute, and 64% of women who died suddenly of coronary heart disease had no previous symptoms. Despite this, women often overlook taking care of themselves. They make taking care of their families and home a priority, but fail to focus on their own heart health.

FIND OUT YOUR RISK

To assess your risk for heart disease, consider taking the AHA’s test using the results of your last physical.  If you don’t have that information, you can still get a sense of how many risk factors you have by taking this test.  

MAKE A CHANGE

While some risk factors such as family history cannot be controlled, changes to your lifestyle can have a tremendous effect on decreasing your risk for heart disease.  A healthy diet and regular physical activity are the secret weapons to preventing heart disease and can reduce risk by as much as 80%. Click here for ideas on heart-smart shopping, cooking and eating out.

As for physical activity, thirty minutes of daily exercise is recommended to lower your risk of heart disease, but you don’t have to do it all at one time.  You’ll get the same benefits if you exercise in two or three 10- to 15-minute intervals a day.  Here are some tips on how to incorporate exercise into your day.

KNOW THE SIGNS

Since even subtle signs can lead to deadly consequences, it is important to know the signs and symptoms of a heart attack.  Women can actually experience a heart attack without chest pressure.  Instead, their symptoms may include (1) pain or heaviness in the arm, upper abdomen/back or below the breastbone, (2) indigestion or upset stomach, (4) sweating, nausea, lightheadedness or dizziness, (4) shortness of breath and (5) rapid or irregular heartbeats.  If you have any of these signs don’t wait for more than five minutes before dialing 9-1-1.  Be sure to stay calm, chew and swallow a baby aspirin and get yourself to a hospital right away. 

It only takes a few minor changes to get on the road to a heart healthy lifestyle.  With the right information, awareness and care, heart disease in women is no longer something we need to fear.