Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of U.S. women, and is more deadly than all forms of cancer combined. It causes one in three women’s deaths each year, killing approximately one woman every minute. On average, nearly 64 women die from heart disease and stroke in Texas each day.
So during American Heart Month in February, the American Heart Association (AHA) and its Go Red For Women movement urge everyone to support the fight against female heart disease by wearing red on Friday, Feb. 6, National Wear Red Day.
“Heart disease can be preventable if women take small steps every day to improve their heart health,” said Dr. Joann Journigan, a cardiologist on the medical staff at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas and at Presbyterian Heart & Vascular, a Texas Health Physicians Group practice in Dallas. “It’s important for women to recognize and manage the risk factors for coronary artery disease with help from their physician.”
Women have a higher risk for heart disease because they’re less likely to suspect heart disease in themselves — and often dismiss symptoms, according to the AHA. Women also may have symptoms that are less specific (feeling tired or short of breath, aching in their arms or jaws) and attribute these symptoms to other illnesses.
While basic risk factors for heart disease are generally the same between men and women — hypertension, high cholesterol, family history, smoking and diabetes — since 1984, more women than men have died each year from heart disease and stroke, and the gap between men and women’s survival continues to widen, according to the AHA.
“We encourage everyone to get routine heart-disease screenings from their physician — even if you don’t think you’re at risk — because not everyone recognizes the symptoms of heart disease right away,” Journigan said.
It’s also essential for women to know their family history, particularly the heart health of their parents and siblings, to improve their chances of spotting and treating heart disease and diabetes early. Women with diabetes are three and a half times more likely to die from heart disease than women who don’t have diabetes — almost twice the relative risk for fatal heart disease in men with diabetes compared to those without.
“It’s not always easy, but we know for certain that maintaining a healthy weight, not smoking, being physically active and making healthy food choices all can dramatically decrease your risk of developing heart disease,” Journigan said. “Incorporating these changes into your lifestyle can have a positive and sustained impact on your overall health and well-being.”
For more information, visit TexasHealth.org/Heart.
REDUCE YOUR RISK
To reduce your chances of getting heart disease it’s important to:
- Know your blood pressure. Having uncontrolled blood pressure can result in heart disease. High blood pressure has no symptoms so it’s important to have your blood pressure checked regularly.
- Talk to your health care provider about whether you should be tested for diabetes. Having uncontrolled diabetes raises your chances of heart disease.
- Quit smoking.
- Discuss checking your cholesterol and triglycerides with your health care provider.
- Make healthy food choices. Being overweight and obese raises your risk of heart disease.
- Limit alcohol intake to one drink a day.
- Lower your stress level and find healthy ways to cope with stress.
— Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention