Walk With the Doc Saturday February 4th, 8:00 am Women Need Healthy Heart Habits Women need to engage in healthy habits to control risk factors including blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol and triglyceride levels. The downside of ignoring these factors is that we now have about 43 million women in the country with cardiovascular disease. In women, heart disease is more likely to be cause of death than all forms of cancer combined. Unfortunately, many remain unaware of their health condition and miss the opportunity for preventative measures. Nearly two-thirds of women who die suddenly from heart disease had not reported previous symptoms although subtle symptoms were usually occurring a month before the attack. For women the problem tends to be sudden cardiac arrest in which the heart's electrical system stops working properly as opposed to a blockage that stops blood flow to the heart. The good news is that 80% of the problems can be reduced by controlling risk factors that include not smoking, exercising regularly, eating healthy foods, drinking little alcohol and maintaining proper weight. For more about warning signs and what you can do read the article “Spotlight on Women's Heart Disease.” While being informed is the first step, the second step is diet and exercise. Granted, lifestyle changes can be challenging without encouragement. You can be sure I will be rooting for you. For a pleasant morning walk – coat, hat and gloves are recommended. Nancy Neighbors, MD *********************************** One way for women to stay on top of heart health is to know the target numbers: • Blood pressure. High blood pressure can damage your heart as well as make you susceptible to stroke. Keep the systolic, top number, below 120 millimeters of mercury and the diastolic, the bottom number, at less than 80 mm Hg. • Blood sugar. Diabetes - 5.7% on the A1C test is normal. Another test measures blood sugar levels after an overnight fast. Less than 100 milligrams per deciliter of blood is considered normal. • Cholesterol. One type – LDL (low-density lipoprotein) levels should be 129 milligrams per deciliter of blood or lower. HDL (high-density lipoprotein) should be 60 mg/dL or higher. • Triglycerides - Normal is less than 150 mg/dL. Other factors include sleep problems, depression, genetics and chronic stress. Depression alone doubles the risk in women age 55 and younger. Family history accounts for about 20% of heart disease risk. Heart Attack Signs in Women 1. 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. 2. Pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw or stomach. 3. Shortness of breath with or without chest discomfort. 4. Other signs such as breaking out in a cold sweat, nausea or lightheadedness. 5. 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. If you have any of these signs, call 911 and get to a hospital right away. Let’s take a walk Date: Saturday, February 4th Location: Jones Family Park (see map) Time: 8:00 am (Meet in front of Yogurt Mountain) Yogurt Mt. is the last store at the end of Valley Bend Shopping Center). If cloudy, bring an umbrella, we walk come rain or shine. Click here for Dr. Neighbors’ 2017 news page |
