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Your Health Matters
Last year it came to my attention during a Rachael Ray TV show in February, and with her special guest, our first lady, Laura Bush, dressed in her red suit, that it was the time to Go Red! Mrs. Bush has been the national ambassador for The Heart Truth (red dress) campaign since Valentine's Day 2003. Since then, as part of her Women's Health and Wellness Initiative, she has been leading the Federal government's effort to give women a personal and urgent wake-up call about their risk of heart disease. She notes, "Like many women, I assumed heart disease was a man's disease and cancer was what we would fear the most. Yet heart disease kills more women in our country than ALL forms of cancer combined. With the many risk factors for heart disease, our greatest risk is ignorance. We must educate others and ourselves about our risk for heart disease and about the steps that we can take to prevent it. Together, we can make a lifesaving difference through education and prevention." Let me say thanks to Laura Bush for taking this strong support for The Heart Truth. It has only been around fifteen or twenty years that doctors have started taking women's heart health serious- I can speak from experience. If you are over 55 years of age, you can probably remember in your younger days-- seldom did women get a real complete physical exam when seeing the doctor. A woman's office visit usually consisted of a pelvic and breast exam. If she had other complaints it was due to an "age bracket" she was going through! (Or it was in her head!?) Men got the works, from EKG, chest x-ray, and blood tests. Today, thank goodness, most of our physicians take their female patients seriously regarding their complaints and will complete equal physical exam tests as with their male patients. FACTS AND HELPFUL INFORMATION: • Heart disease is the #1 killer of American women. One in three women dies of heart disease. • For the last 20 years, more women than men have died of cardiovascular disease in America. Nearly half a million women die every year. In fact, 65,000 more women will die from cardiovascular disease this year than men. • Coronary heart disease is the most common form of heart disease. Often referred to simply as "heart disease," it develops over time and can start as early as the teenage years. During midlife, a woman's risk starts to rise dramatically. In part, this is because a woman's body stops producing estrogen. Also, midlife is a time when women tend to develop factors that increase their risk for heart disease- unless treated it continues to worsen. By taking action, older women and especially those who already have heart disease can reduce their risk of developing heartrelated problems. FACTORS THAT INCREASE WOMEN'S HEART DISEASE RISK: Those beyond your control: • Family history of early heart disease and being 55 or older. Those you can take action against: • Smoking- about 21.2 million women smoke • High blood pressure- 33 percent have high blood pressure • High blood cholesterol- 56.5 million women have high total cholesterol • Overweight/obesity- 62 percent of women are overweight, including about 33 percent who are obese • Physical inactivity- 41 percent never engage in physical activity • Diabetes- 7 million women have been diagnosed with diabetes and another 3 million are undiagnosed TIPS FOR HEART HEALTH: • Don't smoke, and if you do, quit. • Aim for a healthy weight. • Get moving. • Eat for heart health • Know your numbers- ask your doctor to check your blood pressure, total cholesterol and blood glucose. Work with your doctor to improve any numbers that are not normal. To make women more aware of the danger of heart disease, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLB) and partner organizations are sponsoring a national campaign called The Heart Truth. |
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