Love Your Heart:

Heart Disease Remains the No.1 Killer of Women in the U.S.

Dr. Sheri Boyd 

This February as Valentine cards of love arrive, I hope you are reminded to “love your heart.” The red hearts we see each February are not just for Valentine’s Day; they should serve as a reminder that heart disease remains the No. 1 killer of women in the United States.

The month of love must become a month of renewal and commitment for heart health. Women are most often the caretakers for family and friends and must become as passionate about our own hearts as we are for the loved ones in our lives.

Knowledge of our risk factors is the first key, and action to change the risk factors that can be changed is the second. The risk factors that can be controlled and treated include obesity, diabetes, cholesterol, blood pressure, smoking and physical inactivity. While our age, race and heredity as risk factors can not be changed, understanding that they contribute to overall risk is important in guiding individual plans for heart disease risk reduction. Talk to your family and friends and learn about how your heritage and your family’s health history affect your risk. If family members have had heart disease at a young age, women before age 65 and men before 55, you may be at increased risk. African American and Hispanic women have greater risk for heart disease.

• Get active! Sound tough? It’s as simple as increasing the activities you love that get you moving, like walking, dancing or gardening. If you have been inactive, start slow with 10 minutes at a time and work your way up to 30 minutes for most days of the week.

• Have your blood pressure checked. It’s the only way to know if you have high blood pressure. One in three Americans has high blood pressure and many do not know that they have a problem.

• You must have your cholesterol checked and understand the levels of good and bad cholesterol. If diet and exercise do not reduce your cholesterol sufficiently, then your doctor may consider medications.

• Talk to your doctor about your weight. Your risk for high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol and diabetes all increase with being overweight. Even modest amount of weight loss, 5 percent - 10 percent of your body weight, can make a big difference in your health.

• If you have diabetes you are up to four times as likely to develop heart disease. You need a plan with your doctor to manage your diabetes.

• Stop smoking. The most preventable cause of death in America is from smoking. If you have tried to quit, but have not been successful, talk to your doctor. There are many new and innovative ways to help people quit.

This February take time to determine your risk for heart disease and stroke. It’s as easy as logging on to the internet (www.goredforwomen.org) or talking with your doctor. Join the effort to have over 1 million women discover their risk for heart disease and learn how to change that risk now and in the future. Heart disease and stroke can be largely prevented and we can change our risk and our future. Heart disease strikes down our mothers, our sisters, our friends, ourselves and without intervention will remain a killer for our daughters. Join with the women in your life and the women in America this month as we all work to Love our Hearts!