Heart disease is the number one killer of women and can lead to other serious health issues. Despite this fact, many women do not understand how common heart disease is or what they can do to prevent it. Here are some facts about heart disease that all women should know:
Heart disease is the number one killer of women.
Heart disease is the number one killer of women. It’s also the leading cause of disability for women and the leading cause of death for women aged 45 to 64. Heart disease can kill in many ways, including heart attack and stroke (the third leading cause).
If you are a woman at risk for heart disease, there are things you can do to help prevent it from happening to you: eat healthy foods; exercise regularly; keep your weight within normal limits; don’t smoke cigarettes or use tobacco products; limit alcohol intake; manage stress by practicing relaxation techniques such as meditation or yoga; get regular medical checkups with your doctor
Women have more risk factors for heart disease than men.
Women are more likely than men to develop heart disease, and they are at higher risk of dying from it.
This is because women have more risk factors for heart disease than men. These include:
- Smoking
- Being overweight or obese (having a BMI greater than 25)
- Having diabetes
- Having high blood pressure
If you have any of these conditions, you need to take steps now to lower your chance of developing heart disease in the future.
Women have different symptoms from men when it comes to heart disease.
Women are more likely to have symptoms like shortness of breath and fatigue, which may be less severe than those experienced by men. Women are also more likely to experience heart attacks at a younger age.
The good news is that the warning signs for heart disease in women are different from those in men. So next time you’re feeling tired or having trouble breathing, don’t just shrug it off as normal–it could be an indication that something serious is going on with your heart!
While some risk factors are out of your control, many can be managed through healthy lifestyle choices, including exercise and diet.
While some risk factors are out of your control, many can be managed through healthy lifestyle choices, including exercise and diet.
- Smoking: Smoking is the leading cause of heart disease in the U.S., and it’s especially harmful to women who smoke because nicotine affects blood vessels more than it does in men. The good news? Quitting smoking almost immediately reduces your risk for heart disease and stroke by half! So if you haven’t already, make it a goal today to quit smoking or never start at all.
- High cholesterol: While high cholesterol isn’t usually something we associate with women (and rightly so), it’s actually one of the most common risk factors for heart disease among both genders–but since women tend not to get their cholesterol checked as often as men do, they may not know they have high levels until later on down the road when symptoms set in like chest pain or shortness of breath during exercise or physical exertion like climbing stairs or mowing lawns with heavy equipment like lawnmowers etcetera .
If you’ve ever had elevated levels before then definitely see a doctor about getting them checked again because even though statins have become very popular these days there are also other medications now available that might work better for certain people depending upon their specific conditions such as age group (younger vs older) gender type (female vs male).
Women should know what the risks are for heart disease and how they can manage them
Heart disease is the number one killer of women in the United States, and it’s important that you know your risk factors for heart disease. You should also know what symptoms to look out for, so you can take action as soon as possible if you start experiencing them.
If you have any of these risk factors or family history of heart disease, it’s time to get serious about managing your risk:
- high blood pressure (hypertension)
- diabetes mellitus (high blood sugar)
- high levels of LDL cholesterol
- low levels of HDL cholesterol
The most important thing you can do is make sure that your doctor checks your cholesterol levels regularly. This includes testing both LDL (“bad”) and HDL (“good”) cholesterol levels every five years after age 20; annually after age 40; then every three years from ages 50 through 65; then every two years after age 65.*
The most important thing to remember is that heart disease can be managed and prevented through healthy lifestyle choices. If you’re at risk, then it’s important that you know what those risks are and how to manage them. Women should also be aware of the signs and symptoms of heart attack so that they can get help quickly if needed!
