Wear Red! Mothers, daughters, sisters, wives, friends — every day, women are dying at the rate of almost one per minute. Speak up. Make a difference. Show your support for the fight against heart disease in women by participating in National Wear Red Day February 1. It’s easy to organize a Wear Red Day at your organization.
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Know the Symptoms of Heart Disease
Both males and females can experience one or more of the general symptoms below. Women are more likely than men to experience shortness of breath, nausea/vomiting, and back or jaw pain.
- Chest discomfort - the most common symptom for both men and women. Most heart attacks involve discomfort in the center of the chest that lasts more than a few minutes, or that goes away and comes back. It can feel like uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness or pain.
- Discomfort spreading through areas of the upper body - including pain or discomfort in one or both arms, between the shoulder blades, the back, neck, jaw or stomach
- Shortness of breath - with or without chest discomfort
- Nausea
- Sweating
- Indigestion or gas-like pain
- Dizziness
- Unexplained weakness or fatigue
- Sense of impending doom
Source: American Heart Association |
americanheart.org
If you experience these symptoms it is important to seek out your healthcare provider or get to an Emergency Room as quickly as possible. At an Oakwood Emergency Room, the ER doctors understand the differences in heart attack and stroke symptoms for men and women and will evaluate and treat you with that expertise.
Healthy Tips to Keep Your Heart Healthy
You can play an active role in keeping your heart healthy by understanding your own risk factors and controlling or eliminating those risk factors that can be changed. The good news is that even small changes in your lifestyle can lower your risk for heart disease and help you live a healthier, longer life!
Here are some heart disease prevention tips to get you started.
By getting regular health screenings, you will learn your numbers and know whether you need to take action. High blood pressure and high cholesterol can damage your cardiovascular system, including your heart.
How do you know if your weight is healthy? Measure your waist circumference. Your waist circumference is a useful tool to assess abdominal fat. In general, women are considered overweight if their waist measurement is greater than 35 inches.
Federal guidelines recommend that you get at least 30 to 60 minutes of moderately intense physical activity most days of the week. Remember that activities like gardening, housekeeping, taking the stairs and walking all count toward your total activity goal.
Consider mall walking or join Oakwood at The Henry Ford to participate in the Health Through History program which includes 1.5 and 3 mile walking paths throughout the museum and village.
Consistently eating a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains and low-fat dairy products can help protect your heart. Also, by limiting your intake of saturated, polyunsaturated, monounsaturated and trans fat, you can increase your heart health.
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check out Oakwood's stop smoking programs]
By not smoking, risk of heart disease is automatically lowered. Remember, its not just cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, low-tar and low-nicotine cigarettes, and exposure to secondhand smoke are all dangerous to your health.
Take The Women’s Heart Disease Risk Quiz
Are you at risk for heart disease?
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Either you smoke or you are exposed to second-hand smoke every day. |
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Your blood pressure is over 120/80 or you have been told that you have high blood pressure. (After age 45, 60% of Caucasian women and 79% of African-American women have high blood pressure.) |
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You have been told that you have diabetes or take medicine to help control your blood sugar. (After age 45, diabetes affects many more women than men.) |
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Your HDL (High Density Lipoprotein or good cholesterol”) is less than 40mg/dL or your total cholesterol is over 200mg/dL. |
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You are 20 pounds or more overweight. (More than 1.3 of American women are more than 20 pounds overweight.) Ask your healthcare professional if your Body Mass Index (BMI) places you at risk. |
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You do not exercise for 20 – 30 minutes at least three days every week. (70% of American women do not exercise regularly.) |
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Your father or brother had a heart attack, stroke, angioplasty or bypass surgery before age 55 OR your mother or sister had one before age 65. |
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You are over 55 years old. (After age 65, the death rate increases sharply for women.) |
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You have had a hysterectomy and have had your ovaries removed or you have completed menopause. |
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You take birth control pills. (Taking birth control pills can increase risk of heart attack and stroke, especially after age 35 and especially if you smoke.) |
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You have high-demand/low-control areas in your life with sustained high levels of stress. Stress is a normal part of life, but too much unrelieved stress can affect your health. |
Interpreting Your Score
If you answered yes to three or more of the questions, consult with your healthcare practitioner and ask for a complete risk assessment. Find out what you can do to reduce your risk of heart disease.
A single risk factor increases your chances of developing, or worsening, heart-related problems. And the more of them you have, or the more severe any one risk factor is, the more concerned you should be about the possibility of having a heart attack.
Whether you want to lose 10 or 110 pounds . . . or any amount in-between
Oakwood Bariatric Options now offers a medical weight loss option. A program that is designed to help you learn how to eat, plan, shop for your food, exercise, and maintain your loss.
Learn more . . .