Here is a wake up call for you – heart disease is not just a man’s problem. In the past, heart attacks and heart disease were treated as the kind of thing a man needs to worry about as he gets older but not something that women needed to concern themselves with. This kind of attitude has been deadly for women. While treating heart attacks and heart disease in men has come on in leaps and bounds, the general attitude towards women and heart disease has meant that now women are six times more likely to die from a heart attack than a man. The reason for this is that doctors have long ignored the symptoms of these kinds of problems in women, brushing them off as unimportant or psychosomatic, and so it took too long for women to get the treatment they needed.
Luckily, a new tide is turning, and doctors are taking the problem of heart disease in women seriously. While awareness in the medical community is increasing, women must be vigilant about their own health and monitor their own symptoms, so they can speak up and demand the care they need in the face of a doctor who may be brushing their symptoms under the rug.
How serious is the problem of health disease in women? Believe it or not, it is the leading cause of death in women over the age of 65. Although the onset of heart disease in women tends to happen later in life than in it does in men, by the time women reach their mid 60s, their risk is exactly the same as the risk faced by men. By the time women are in the 50s, their chance of dying of heart disease is four times greater than their risk of dying of breast cancer. By age 65, more women die of heart disease than of all other kinds of cancer put together.
With statistics like these, it is clear to see that heart disease is a problem that women need to take seriously. How can you protect yourself from heart disease? There are many lifestyle changes you can make that can increase your heart health and keep you in tip top shape for years to come. The most obvious of these should be familiar one – do not smoke. If you do smoke, make quitting a priority. Even if you have smoked for years, there is evidence that if you quit now, your body can repair the damage that has been done. If you give up smoking today, in two years, your risk of having a heart attack will have diminished by at least one third.
You can also make serious stride in heart health by controlling your weight and exercising. Eating a heart healthy, low fat diet is crucial to keeping your heart healthy, and excess weight can put your heart in serious jeopardy. Add aerobic exercise to your schedule every day and make an effort to drop your excess pounds, and you can increase your heart health.
Related to your healthy diet is an effort to keep cholesterol and blood pressure in check. If diet won’t get these things under control, then see your doctor and get medication to help.
Last but not least, pay attention to your body. If you are having chest pain or other symptoms of a heart attack, get straight to the emergency room. Don’t write it off as indigestion or exhaustion – these are serious signs that need to be taken seriously. If it is nothing, then you will at least know you are safe. If it is something, getting to the hospital quickly can mean the difference between life and death.
