February is Women's Heart Month

Article by Arlene Lengyel

The annual wear red campaign on the first Friday of February draws attention to women’s heart health awareness: heart disease is the number one killer of women.

There are 450,000 women’s heart disease deaths per year in the United States. The classic symptom of a heart attack is crushing pain in the chest. However, it turns out for women that intense chest pain occurs less than 30% of the time before women’s heart attacks, this information according to Dr. Ranit Mishori writing in the February 1, 2009 issue of Parade.

Women’s Heart Attack Symptoms

Women’s symptoms of a heart attack can include heaviness or pressure in the upper body areas like the back, shoulders, neck, or jaw. Shortness of breath may be prominent or nausea and cold sweats. In addition, some women report extreme fatigue and a sense of doom months before a heart attack.

The Top Two Ways to Preserve a Healthy Heart

The two most imperative, common-sense things you can do to maintain a healthy heart is to eat right and exercise daily. Choose lots of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat dairy, olive oil, nuts, fish, and a minimum of red meat. Exercise every day for at least 30 minutes; choose aerobic activities such as fast walking, jogging, swimming, dancing or cycling.

Increase Knowledge about Weight, Blood Pressure and Cholesterol

Additional heart-healthy things to do are watch your weight, monitor your blood pressure, and know your cholesterol and blood numbers. Use the BMI (body mass index) to establish your healthy weight. As reported in the July 2007 Environmental Nutrition Newsletter, a study called Interheart that involved 27,000 people from 52 countries, found that the ratio of waist to hip measurement is the best predictor of heart attack risk; best for women is .85 or less.

Health professionals say blood pressure should be below 120/80. Know ways to keep it in check, like cutting salt intake, not smoking and getting enough sleep. In a five-year British study reported in the journal Hypertension (October 2007), women who slept for six hours or less were more apt to acquire high blood pressure.

Assess your Heart Attack Risk

You can get an analysis of how likely you are to have a heart attack in the next 10 years using this American Heart Association risk calculator.

This is an educational article only; seek your heath care provider for advice. Heart attack symptoms need emergency care.