Are You At Risk? Secrets About Your Heart That You MUST Know
by Kathy Smith
February is American Heart Month…a personal subject for me. And this Friday, look for me on Fox News in Utah shouting from the rooftops for all women to GO RED, and raise awareness of heart disease.
When I was 17, my dad died of a sudden heart attack. Needless to say, it was devastating, and one of the few effective coping mechanisms that I found for the pain and confusion I experienced was running. It was therapeutic for me; after my runs, I’d feel like some of the weight on my shoulders had lifted.
Over time, the fog began to clear and life began to feel more manageable. And my love of fitness and its powerful effect on our lives was born. But there was another important consequence that resulted from losing my dad. I became acutely aware of the importance of heart health, and the active role we can play in protecting it.
The numbers are tough to digest: 42 million women in the U.S. are currently living with or at risk for heart disease; 1 woman dies every minute from cardiovascular disease; and 64% of those women had no previous symptoms. But all women face the threat of heart disease.
Did you know that women’s heart attack signs may be different from men’s? In fact, many female heart attack survivors report absolutely no chest pain.
Some of the warning signs include:
- Jaw pain
- Abdominal pain
- Pain in one or both arms
- Cold sweat
- Sense of foreboding
- Shortness of breath
- Chest discomfort
But here’s the good news: cardiovascular diseases can usually be prevented and even reversed.
The greatest advice in our education is that heart disease can be virtually eliminated by controlling three factors:
- Cholesterol
- Smoking
- Blood pressure
In other words, what we put into our bodies and how we move them are the greatest weapons in our battle against this #1 killer of women.
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