Today is National Go For Red Day. Everyone is encouraged to wear red today to help remind us that the number one killer of women is heart disease. The campaign is aslo set to remind women to get their annual check up from their physician.
In my own experience with heart disease at a the ripe age of 31 I say this, don’t wait until you are laying in a hospital bed to get a check up. Heart Disease is a big killer of americans and the Number One of women. Symtoms or not, get a check up annually. Surely a premature death awaits a lot of us if we do not take care of our bodies. The choice is yours.
Heart disease is not only a Man’s Disease!
Imaging this……It’s a beautiful day. The sun is out. You’re out in the garden pulling a few weeds when your chest begins to hurt.
You can’t catch your breath. You’re sweating. These are the classic signs of a true medical emergency — a heart attack.
Men and women both experience these symptoms. But if you are a woman, there is a good chance you will ignore them.
Premenopausal women benefit from lower rates of heart disease. Perhaps that is why they believe that heart disease is a “man’s disease” and ignore their symptoms.
After age 45, however, heart disease rates in women begin to rapidly climb. By age 65, one in three women has heart disease.
Men usually complain of “crushing” pain or “tightness in the chest,” whereas women complain more often of a “burning” or “squeezing” pain in ther chest area. In many cases a feeling of “upper abdominal fullness” is another way that women often characterize chest pain that could be a sign of a heart attack. Also, in many cases the pain that women experience is also less severe than that of men.
These signs usually make it easier for a woman to chalk up the signs to a bad case of indigestion.
Awareness in many areas of health related issues for women such as breast cancer is rapidly growing, but Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women. More women than men die each year of heart disease. Women are six times more likely to die of heart disease than of breast cancer.
Still think you don’t need an annual check up?
Written by Pat King - Visit Website
Don’t ignore signs no matter what they are. Get yourself checked in a hospital and get tested accordingly. It is easier to prevent than to cure. I’ve seen lots of people having a heart condition that they could have easily prevented.
Thank you so much for this post. I currently know three women in their mid to late 40’s and early 50’s who have recently had double and triple bypass surgery because of heart disease. Fortunately, each of these women were under the care of a physician and the need for surgery was detected prior to a heart attack.
My point is, heart disease is indeed prevalent and affecting women all around us. This reminder for us to get a check up and stay on top of this is very necessary.
I’ve taken a good look around your site. There are some wonderful recommendations here to help both women and men improve their health. I have already included several of them into my lifestyle.
I’ve definitely gone Red!
You are welcome. Please take it to heart and spread the word of the importance of annual doctor visits. Our lives are precious and we must do our part to maintain a healthy mind, body and spirit so that we may get the most out of it.
Pat