Attention all women: Heart disease is more common than you think!
Many of you may not be aware that more women than men die from heart disease each year. In the United States, a woman dies from heart disease almost every minute. This year, six times as many women (267,000) will die from heart attacks than breast cancer.
Heart disease doesn’t just strike older women. The rate of sudden cardiac death among women in their 30s and 40s increased 30 percent in the last decade. That’s much more significant than the increase seen in men the same age.
Statistics also tell us that one in three women don’t know that heart disease is their greatest health risk. That’s why we need to spread the word to our female friends, family members and neighbors.
All women should know the risks for heart disease and take steps to reduce those risks.
For example, have your blood pressure and cholesterol numbers checked regularly and work with your physician if they are not at goal.
If you smoke, you are two to four times more likely than nonsmokers to develop heart disease. Women who smoke have heart attacks nearly 20 years earlier than non-smoking women. Your best plan is to quit now.
Lack of physical activity increases your risk of coronary heart disease. It also increases the likelihood of other risk factors, such as high blood pressure and being overweight. If you have excess body fat, especially around your waist you are more likely to develop heart disease and stroke. Every pound you lose helps lower your risk.
Women with diabetes are two to three times more likely to have heart attacks, but that risk can be significantly lowered if the diabetes is well controlled.
When heart disease does strike, plans and lives are changed forever. The road to recovery can be overwhelming. People recovering from heart disease have to learn how to improve their eating habits. They have to focus on getting regular exercise, quitting smoking, taking medications faithfully, keeping healthcare appointments, and working with doctors to control blood pressure, cholesterol and diabetes. Taking these changes step by step can help promote success in finding a new, “normal” lifestyle.
While many women spend their whole lives putting the needs of others ahead of their own, it is essential that women recovering from heart disease place themselves and their heart’s recovery first above all else. Whether you are recovering from a heart attack, open heart surgery or angioplasty/stenting, or you are a healthy woman who is trying to prevent heart disease, getting and giving support is crucial in working toward a heart healthy lifestyle.
Morris Hospital & Healthcare Centers is providing an opportunity for women to connect and learn from each other through a new support group, Heart to Heart for Women. Our goal is to raise awareness of women’s risk for heart disease and provide an avenue for women to share knowledge and insight with each other on their path to prevention and recovery.
This group will meet for the first time from 6 to 7 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 16, in the Whitman Education Room at Morris Hospital. Women survivors of heart disease will be speaking “from their hearts” as they share their personal stories of hope and survival.
We can make a difference in the health of our community. Come and listen to these women share their stories on Feb. 16, and then help spread the word to your friends, daughters, sisters, mothers, aunts and grandmothers.
We can band together to beat heart disease through awareness, knowledge and action by living healthier lives.
Pat Cravens is a registered nurse and cardiovascular clinical educator at Morris Hospital & Healthcare Centers. For more information on the Heart to Heart for Women Support Group, call Cravens at 815-942-2932 , ext. 7832.
