February is Heart Health Month and today, February 3, is National Wear Red Day, the day that kicks off awareness about heart disease among women, and the important steps to reduce the risk of developing this terrible disease.
Heart disease is the number one cause of death among women. Make sure to have your blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar checked
A woman having a heart attack often presents with different symptoms than a man and it often gets undiagnosed. About 43% of women do experience chest pain, similar to a man, that means that 57% of woman do not.
What are the symptoms? Frequently, shortness of breath, unusual fatigue, and a feeling of weakness. Women may also feel nauseous, dizziness, lower chest discomfort, upper abdominal pressure or discomfort that may seem like indigestion and back pain. If you feel anything troublesome, please call 911.
Here are the steps you can take to reduce your risk of heart disease:
Don’t smoke. This is number one, do everything you can to stop. Ask your doctor for help.
Eat healthy. Increase your intake of vegetables, fruits and multi-grains. Lose the bacon cheeseburger and fries.
Find healthy ways to deal with stress. Take deep breaths, meditate, take yoga, and go for a long walk.
Move your body. A cardio workout targets your heart and lungs. Run, walk, swim, bike, jump rope, walk up and down stairs, and row. Start out easy and increase time and intensity as you improve. Work up to at least thirty minutes every day.
Take care of your heart, this muscle works hard every single second of every single day to keep us alive and strong. By doing so we honor ourselves.
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