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I’ve spent the last three weeks debating about whether to talk about broken hearts, and wondering how personal this blog should get. I’ve decided that in the end, keeping people healthy is more important than opening old wounds.
This isn’t a story of failed romance. It’s the story of women, heart disease, the importance of taking care of yourself and being an advocate for your own healthcare. Six years ago, my mother died after a heart attack. She was 55 years old. She went to the hospital after weeks of experiencing shortness of breath, symptoms she believed to be a bronchial infection, the result of a lingering cold. In reality, she had extensive blockages in the three main coronary arteries, and had neglected her symptoms for so long that her heart was permanently damaged.
Here are the basics that you need to know.
The Statistics
· Eight million American women live with heart disease
· Six times as many women will die from heart attacks as will die from breast cancer
· The rate of sudden cardiac death in women in their 30s and 40s increased by 30% in the last decade
· Because the symptoms aren’t as obvious for women as men, heart disease is more likely to kill women.
Don’t ignore symptoms.
For women, heart disease doesn’t present the same clear-cut symptoms as it does with men.There’s no crushing chest pain, no tingling in the left arm. Women are most likely to experience:
· Unusual fatigue
· Sleep disturbance
· Shortness of breath
· Weakness
· Indigestion
· Anxiety
· Dizziness
The Risk Factors
· Diabetes
· Overweight
· Smoker
· High blood pressure
· High cholesterol
Why I’m writing this
My mother’s death was preventable. Even though I had long worked with companies that dealt with cardiovascular disease, it wasn’t until after her death that I became familiar with the differences between symptoms in men and women. Had I known — had any of us known — her symptoms would have raised some obvious red flags. You can learn more at Go Red For Women, an awareness campaign from the American Heart Association.
Know your risk factors. Know the symptoms. Visit your doctor for routine check-ups. Ask for second and third opinions, and listen to them. If my mother had followed these basic steps, I wouldn’t be writing this today.