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Women and Heart Disease
Heart disease is the number one cause of death in women.
8,000,000 women are living with heart disease.
500,000 American women have heart attacks each year.
The average age of women with heart disease is 70.4
Women at times have different warning signs than men. As with men, women’s most common heart attack symptom is chest pain or discomfort. But women are somewhat more likely than men to have some of the other warning signs, particularly shortness of breath, nausea, vomiting and back pain or jaw pain. Listen to your body. Don’t ignore your symptoms. Get help fast. |
Signs of a Heart Attack
- Chest discomfort or uncomfortable pressure, fullness, squeezing or pain in the center of the chest that lasts longer than a few minutes or comes and goes.
- Spreading pain to one or both arms, back, jaw, or stomach.
- Cold sweats and nausea.
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You Could Be at Risk for Heart Disease if You:
- Smoke or use tobacco
- Have diabetes
- Have high blood pressure
- Have high cholesterol, including a high LDL (bad cholesterol), low HDL (good cholesterol) or high triglyceride levels
- Have a sedentary lifestyle, or get little physical activity
- Are overweight
- Have a family history of heart disease
- Had early menopause (before age 40)
- Already had a heart attack
- Have high levels of stress or feeling little control over your environment
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You Can Reduce Your Risk for Heart Disease if You:
- Stop smoking
- Eat a Heart Healthy diet
- Maintain a healthy weight
- Keep blood sugar, blood pressure and cholesterol under control
- Exercise at least 30 minutes a day on most days of the week
- Talk to your health care provider about screening test for heart disease
- Learn how to reduce and manage stress
- Engage in activities that can improve heart health (gardening, walking, housecleaning, stair climbing, etc.)
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