Today, Feb. 3, is National Wear Red Day, part of the American Heart Association's Go Red for Women® campaign to bring attention to heart health as it specifically applies to women.
Women often believe that heart disease is a “men’s disease,” not realizing that more women die of cardiovascular disease than the next four causes of death combined. Often, women believe that breast cancer, in fact, is the leading cause of death for women. However, as Star Jones, national spokesperson for Go Red for Women®, indicates, this is simply not true.
Star Jones is a heart disease survivor, and had heart surgery two years ago. “One in 26 women die from breast cancer, but one in three women die of heart disease,” she said on NBCs Today Show. “It is the number one killer of women. … My symptoms were things people would not think of—fatigue, light-headedness, heart palpitations. I didn’t know that that was heart disease. It’s not an old guy’s disease any more. It’s the face of women. So, we go red today and this whole month to celebrate heart health.”
According to the American Heart Association, 80 percent of all cardiac events in women could be prevented if women made the right choices in diet, exercise and abstinence from smoking. Heart attacks happen when the blood flow to part of the heart is blocked. This usually happens when a blood clot cuts off the blood supply. If the clot cuts off the blood flow completely, the heart muscle supplied by that artery begins to die. Signs of a heart attack in women, the AHA says, include the following:
- Uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness or pain in the center of your chest. It lasts more than a few minutes, or goes away and comes back.
- Pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw or stomach.
- Shortness of breath with or without chest discomfort.
- Other signs such as breaking out in a cold sweat, nausea or lightheadedness.
- As with men, women’s most common heart attack symptom is chest pain or discomfort. But women are somewhat more likely than men to experience some of the other common symptoms, particularly shortness of breath, nausea/vomiting and back or jaw pain.
It is imperative, the AHA says, to not wait more than five minutes before calling 9-1-1 and getting to a hospital.
Women should also be aware of the symptoms of a stroke, the No. 3 cause of death in America, and a major cause of severe, long-term disability. Stroke and transient ischemic attack (TIA) happen when a blood vessel feeding the brain gets clogged or bursts. Signs include:
- Sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body
- Sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding
- Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes
- Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination
- Sudden severe headache with no known cause
The AHA warns that not all of these warning signs occur with every stroke. If you have any of the warning signs, they advise, again, do not wait more than five minutes to call 9-1-1 for help. Research from the AHA has shown that if given within three hours of the start of symptoms, a clot-bursting drug can reduce long-term disability for the most common type of stroke.
For more information on women and heart disease, or to get information and resources about Go Red for Women®, visit the American Heart Association online.
Image: American Heart Association, Go Red for Women®
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