Know the Symptoms and Help Women Actively Reduce Their Risk for Cardiovascular Disease
We lost our cousin, Gail, today. In the space of a breath, she became the 1 out of 3 women that die of heart disease and stroke each year. My family will miss her effervescent personality. We will miss her jokes. We will miss Gail’s smile. We will miss the easy warmth she shared with everyone. Whom will you miss if one of the women in your family dies of a heart attack this year? Who will miss you, if you are the one of three?
This year, Friday, February 6 marks the American Heart Association’s National Wear Red Day® when women #GoRed to create awareness for women’s cardiovascular health. In its tenth year, the program is working. The American Heart Association reports, “Today, nearly 300 fewer women die from heart disease and stroke each day.” Awareness has prompted women to make healthy lifestyle changes that are helping them live longer.
American Heart Association reports that, “nearly 90% of women have made at least one healthy behavior change” such as:
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- Lose weight
- Increase exercise
- Check their cholesterol levels
- Change their diet
- Talk with their doctor about heart health
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The sad new is that women are still dying of preventable heart disease at the rate of one woman every minute.
Donations to Go Red campaign fund medical research, facilitate community outreach, and create awareness that ultimately help women live longer, healthier lives. Women can create a fundraising page as an individual or as a group at work, a club, at church—anywhere women are. Numerous free tools are available to help women increase awareness in their communities and get the message out that even though 1 in 3 women will die of heart disease or stroke this year, 80% of those deaths are preventable.
Knowing the risk factors and warning signs for heart attack and stroke can help women actively reduce their risk. Risk Factors include high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, smoking, family history of heart disease, obesity and age.
Warning Signs of Heart Attack in Women:
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- Pressure, fullness, squeezing or pain in the center of chest lasting more than a few minutes or that goes away and returns
- Pain in one or both arms, back, jaw, neck or even stomach
- Shortness of breath (with or without chest discomfort or pain)
- Cold sweat
- Nausea
- Lightheadedness
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Warning Signs of Stroke in Women:
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- Confusion, trouble speaking or trouble understanding
- Numbness or weakness of face, arm or leg on one side of the body
- Sudden blurred vision or trouble seeing in one or both eyes
- Dizziness, trouble walking, loss of balance
- Sudden severe headache
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As with any skill, use it or lose it is the rule of thumb. Know your risks, warning signs, and what you can do to safeguard your health. Then, share that information with as many women as you can. You can join the movement and increase awareness by sharing your Go Red photos on social media using #GoRed.
#GoRed for yourself, your mom, your friends… and any of your loved ones. I will #GoRed for Gail.