Heart disease and women:
Lowering your risk
Remember the day in February when everyone wore red for women? We all knew it was to raise awareness about the number one killer of women, heart disease. Since that day, what have you done to lower your risk?
One in four women in this country will die of heart disease, while one in thirty will die of breast cancer. Women are less likely to survive a heart attack then men. Protecting your heart is worth the effort.
There are two different classes of risk factors for heart disease: the risk factors that you cannot change, like your age and family history, and those factors that you can alter to lower your risk. Luckily, many heart disease risk factors can be controlled by making changes in your lifestyle, and in some cases, by taking medicine. Once you identify your risks for heart disease, you can start playing an active role in protecting your heart. Let’s take a look at the basic changes that you can make:
• Stop smoking — Smoking is the single most preventable risk factor for heart disease in the U.S.
• Control your blood pressure — Have your blood pressure checked regularly, and accept medication if recommended by your provider. Readings that are above 130/80 need attention.
• Control cholesterol — Cholesterol is what causes plaque to build up in the arteries. The higher the LDL (“bad” cholesterol), the more at risk you are. Accept medication if you are not able to reduce these numbers with diet and exercise.
• Maintain a healthy weight — The more over weight you are, the harder your heart has to work.
• Be physically active — Exercise can condition and strengthen your heart. It also lowers your weight, blood pressure, and cholesterol.
• Eat healthy — Eat foods that are low in salt, fat, and sugar. Eat lots of fiber and whole grains and five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables each day. Learn to read the nutrition labels on the foods that you buy, and watch those portion sizes.
• Be screened for diabetes — This disease affects seven million women in the U.S., and three million of them do not know they have it. Diabetes greatly increases your risk for heart disease.
• Manage your stress – The link between heart disease and stress is not completely understood, but we do know that chronic stress over time is another risk factor for your heart.
Work with your health care provider to find out your heart disease risk and develop a plan that can help reduce those factors that you can change. That way, next February, when you wear red, you can do more than just raise awareness of heart disease. You can use this special day to celebrate the risk factors that you have reduced in your life.
To find out more about heart disease, join TAMC and the Mars Hill Rotary Club at a health fair on Saturday, May 1 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Fort Street Elementary School in Mars Hill.
Lucy Richard is a nurse practitioner and certified nurse midwife who works at TAMC’s Women’s Health Center in Presque Isle.
