National Wear Red Day

Today, February 3, 2012, is National Wear Red Day to help raise awareness about heart disease in women.  Did you know that heart disease is the #1 killer of American women?  Here are some more staggering statistics from the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI)...one in four women in the U.S. die from heart disease as compared to one in 30 from breast cancer.  Around 80 percent of women ages 40-60 have one or more risk factors for heart disease.  Having multiple risk factors significantly increases your risk for heart disease because risk factors worsen each others effects.  According to NHLBI, only having one risk factor doubles your chance for developing heart disease.

Do you know what the controllable lifestyle factors are?  Check it out:

• Smoking
• High blood pressure
• High blood cholesterol
• Diabetes
• Being overweight or obese
• Physical inactivity

How many of those risk factors do you have?  Every one of the risk factors listed above are "controllable"...meaning with a little effort on your part, you can change your risk.  Click HERE to refer back to our previous blog on heart health.

It's time for you to step up and take control of your health.  Today is a good day to do just that.  Wear red today and raise your own awareness of heart disease.  Do it for yourself...do it for the ladies you care about!

Don't forget to stop by PROMATx Health Club today to learn more about preventing heart disease.  We will have a lot of great information for you and you can talk with some of our trainers to see how they can help you reduce your risk for developing heart disease.  Come on in...your heart will thank you!!

Go Red for Women

Today in Central Kentucky, we celebrate "Go Red For Women" with the American Heart Association (AHA).   In a previous blog, HEART HEALTH, we talked about a little about heart disease and which lifestyle factors contribute to heart disease in everyone.  Today, we will focus strictly on the ladies.  According to the AHA, more women die of cardiovascular disease than from the next four causes of death combined, including all forms of cancer.  Unfortunately 80% of cardiac events in women could be prevented if women made the right choices for their hearts involving diet, exercise and abstinence from smoking.

Let's look at some staggering statistics for women and heart disease:

• 8 million women in the US are currently living with heart disease; 35,000 are under age of 65. Four million suffer from angina.
• 435,000 American women have heart attacks annually; 83,000 are under age 65; 35,000 are under 55. The average: 70.4.
• 42% of women who have heart attacks die within 1 year, compared to 24% of men.
• Under age 50, women’s heart attacks are twice as likely as men’s to be fatal.
• 267,000 women die each year from heart attacks, which kill six times as many women as breast cancer. Another 31,837 women die each year of congestive heart failure, representing 62.6% of all heart failure deaths.

What exactly is a heart attack?  A heart attack is when blood flow to the heart is blocked.  When this happens the heart doesn't receive the oxygen it needs and part of the heart and the affected blood vessel(s) can die.  Although the symptoms of a heart attack are the same in women and men (chest pain and discomfort), women often feel some of the other symptoms such as shortness of breath, nausea/vomiting, and back/jaw pain.  Ladies, if you experience any of the following symptoms, call 9-1-1 immediately.

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1. Uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness or pain in the center of your chest that lasts more than a few minutes, or goes away and comes back.
2. Pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw or stomach.
3. Shortness of breath with or without chest discomfort.
4. Other signs such as breaking out in a cold sweat, nausea or lightheadedness.

So why do women delay getting medical attention for heart attacks more than men?  There are several reasons including: 

• Many times they don't know the heart attack warning signs and symptoms
• They mistakenly think "crushing chest pain" is the only heart attack symptom
• They falsely believe that only men and very old people have heart attacks
• They are pre-occupied with family responsibilities, can't get childcare or transportation, or don't want to impose their needs on others
• They are depressed, fatalistic about their health, or resigned to suffering

Now that we know the depressing, dark facts about heart disease in women, let's take a stand against this disease.  What are you waiting for...a ride to the hospital?  Get off the couch, put down the fast food, and get healthy!  If you don't take care of yourself first, it will be difficult for you to take care of your family.  This is a plea to everyone who has a woman in their life they care about...talk to her and tell her how much she means to you and how much you want her to live a full, happy, and healthy life.  Take a stand against heart disease. 

For more information on heart disease, visit the American Heart Association's website.