Ask any woman what the leading cause of death is amongst women
and you’re bound to hear everything but heart disease. Women the
world over just don’t realize they may be more at risk for having
a heart attack and dying from heart disease than the men in their
lives. The thing is most women don’t seem to believe the reports
about the risk women face when it comes to heart disease. So
here are some facts that every woman should be aware of and take
to heart, no pun intended.

1. Heart disease is the leading cause of death for women in the
United States. In 2006, 315,930 women died from it.

2. Heart disease killed 26% of the women who died in 2006—more
than one in every four.

3. Thirty-six percent of women did not perceive themselves to be
at risk for heart disease in a 2005 survey because heart disease
is often thought to be a “man’s disease”.

4. Heart disease is the leading cause of death for women of most
racial/ethnic groups in the United States, including African
Americans, American Indians or Alaska Natives, Hispanics, and
whites. For Asian American women, heart disease is second only to
cancer.

5. Almost two-thirds of the women who die suddenly of coronary
heart disease have no previous symptoms. I know you’re busy you
have the kids to care for, work, school, etc. but, you need to
step back for a minute and get serious about your improving your
heart health.

I know breast cancer is a major concern for women all over the
world and many women feel they have a higher risk of dying from
breast cancer then heart disease. But the facts tell
a different story – you have a greater risk of dying from heart
disease than breast cancer.

Heart disease covers a wide range of medical conditions ranging
from high cholesterol, congestive heart failure, to heart
fluttering, etc. One of the biggest mistakes you can make
regarding your health is to deny that you may be at risk for a
heart attack. Be proactive and take preemptive steps today to
start improving your health.

Don’t take just the month of February (National Wear Red Day,
and American Heart Month) to improve your heart health and skip
the other eleven months of the year. Take action to improve your
heart health year round in fact the easiest first step you can
take is to improve your diet.

Learn as much as you can about how your diet affects your heart
and cardiovascular health then implement what you have learned
and slowly you will begin to decrease your heart attack risk.