Interesting Facts About Heart Disease That You Should Know
There are many interesting facts about heart disease as it pertains to women that you really need to know. For years, it was thought that heart disease only affected men, but new research is finding that women may be more at risk than many men when it comes to this condition. Heart disease is the number one cause of death for women in the United States today, so it’s important to learn more, including risk factors and how to know if you’re having a heart attack.
Are you at risk?
It’s an interesting fact about heart disease that some of the risk factors can be controlled, while others simply can’t be. For instance, your age, gender and race are all risk factors which you just have no control over. Women who have gone through menopause are more likely to have symptoms of heart disease than those who are younger. Since you can’t control these risks, it’s important to work on controlling your other factors which might put you at risk for heart disease.
The factors which you can control include smoking, blood pressure, diabetes, sedentary lifestyle and your weight. If you are affected by any of these risk factors, you need to try to control them. Watch your weight and control your diet and exercise. Quit smoking and monitor your blood pressure. It’s an interesting fact about heart disease that many women are at such a high risk because they have trouble finding the time to work out, where men are more able to take the time needed to get the exercise their bodies need.
It’s also an interesting fact that since women tend to experience stress differently than men, this is also a contributing factor in their heart disease risks. Because of this, it is even more important than ever for women to make sure to take the time they need for themselves to ensure they have a healthy heart.
What are the warning signs?
One of the most interesting facts about heart disease as it affects women is that women have different symptoms of heart attacks than men. So, when a woman has a heart attack, she might experience lightheaded, jaw and neck pain, abdominal pain and an achy or sore back. If you are having these symptoms, you might want to call your doctor.
For a long time, these symptoms in women were dismissed as being “something else” that had nothing to do with the heart. Whether it was stress or anxiety, the connection between a sore back and jaw pain wasn’t made for many years, so women have been neglected when it comes to heart disease prevention and treatment for years.
Heart disease is not just a man’s disease, and while there are many interesting facts about heart disease for both men and women, the bottom line is that each gender has different signs that they should know how to recognize and prevent.
