This coming Friday, on National Wear Red Day, many will wear red to raise awareness of heart disease in women.

In 2004, when heart disease was claiming the lives of nearly 500,000 American women a year, the American Heart Association created the Go Red for Women campaign, National Wear Red Day, to be observed the first Friday in February.

Heart disease and stroke cause one in three deaths among women each year, killing one woman every 80 seconds.

In a Jan. 25 scientific statement in the American Heart Association’s journal Circulation, titled “Women’s Heart Attack Causes, Symptoms May Differ from a Man’s,” a woman’s heart attack may have different underlying causes, symptoms and outcomes compared to men.

In addition, differences in risk factors and outcomes are further pronounced in black and Hispanic women.

Laxmi Mehta, M.D., cardiologist and director of the Women’s Cardiovascular Health Program at Ohio State University, states, “Despite stunning improvements in cardiovascular deaths over the last decade, women still fare worse than men, and heart disease in women remains underdiagnosed, and undertreated, especially among African-American women.”

Mehta further stated while the most common heart attack symptom is chest pain for both sexes, women are more likely to have atypical symptoms, such as shortness of breath, nausea or vomiting, and back or jaw pain.

In 2010, my mother, who had no symptoms other than shortness of breath, suffered what doctors termed a silent heart attack.

Women can help decrease the incidence of having heart disease-related problems by educating themselves on the risk factors of heart disease, getting regular physicals, controlling high blood pressure, blood glucose and cholesterol levels, reducing stress, getting regular exercise and maintaining a healthy weight.

Eating a healthy diet low in fats and sodium with whole grains, fruits and vegetables is also important.

To ensure a healthy heart, women need to focus on caring for their bodies every day of the year, not just the first Friday in February.

Susan

Bryant

editorial assistant

Parkland Press

Northwestern Press