Your Heart, Your Health, Your Life!

It pains me when I hear about a woman who puts off going to the doctor when she has chest pains. It pains me even more when a woman gets misdiagnosed with an anxiety condition when in reality she's experiencing a mild heart attack! Heart disease is the leading cause of death for Americans, and it's the leading cause of death for women. According to the American Heart Association: * 1 in 5 females in the U.S. have some form of heart disease.

* A woman dies from heart disease every 34 seconds.

* African-American and Mexican-American women have higher heart disease and stroke risk factors than white women of comparable socioeconomic status.

* The prevalence of high blood pressure in minority women in the U.S. is among the highest in the world.

* Coronary heart disease rates in women after menopause are 2-3 times those of women the same age before menopause.

* Heart disease claims more women’s lives than the next 8 causes of deaths combined . . . including breast cancer.

* Most women begin to develop heart disease at a very young age.

* Over 35% of American women are overweight.

* Over 25% of American women smoke.

So what does this mean to you? EVERYTHING! If you haven't been taking care of yourself like getting regular check-ups and following up on nagging systems like heart palpitations, numbness or excessive fatigue, it's time to start now! Stop waiting for things to "slow down" or wait until you have some extra time; time is of the essence for you to take charge of your health. Your first order of business is to get your blood pressure checked and then keep a log for 30 days. After you have an average, monitor it periodically and if it's greater than 115/70 make every effort to bring it down the good ol' fashioned way -  through diet and exercise. In my next post, I'll have the top 3 reasons you need to work your heart out HARD. Don't get nervous, it's for your (heart) HEALTH.