Change of Heart - Heart Awareness for Women

Mothers, daughters, sisters, aunts, grandmothers -- all at risk for heart disease.  In fact, heart disease is the number one killer of women each year.  That's why WakeMed has created Change of Heart, an initiative to help raise your awareness about a woman's risk for heart disease and the changes you can make to take better care of your heart. 

Many women think heart disease is a "man's disease," something females really don't have to worry about.  But let's find out the facts.  What is heart disease?  And what do you need to know to protect yourself?

How Heart Disease Works

The heart is a muscle that needs oxygen and nutrients found in your blood in order to pump more blood rich with these essential ingredients to other parts of your body.  The blood is delivered to the heart’s walls via the coronary arteries.  When these arteries become blocked or narrowed, and the heart’s muscle walls are starved of vital oxygen and nutrients, a heart attack occurs.

It is important for you to realize that heart disease is a lifelong condition.  Making changes for better health today enables your heart to be healthier, thus making you healthier for you and the ones you love.

The Warning Signs of Heart Attack

Know the warning signs of a heart attack.  They include:

• Uncomfortable pressure, fullness, squeezing or pain in the center of the chest that lasts more than a few minutes, or goes away and comes back.
• Pain that spreads to the shoulders, neck or arms.
• Chest discomfort with lightheadedness, fainting, sweating, nausea or shortness of breath.

As a woman, YOU may have these less common warning signs:

• Atypical chest pain, stomach or abdominal pain.
• Nausea or dizziness without chest pain.
• Shortness of breath and difficulty breathing without chest pain.
• Unexplained anxiety, weakness or fatigue.
• Palpitations, cold sweat or paleness.

Risk Factors of Heart Disease

Risk factors are conditions or habits that increase your chances of developing a disease. There are two types of heart disease risk factors – those you can’t change (non-modifiable) and those that you can control (modifiable). 

Non-modifiable risk factors include family history of early heart disease and age.  Age, for women, becomes a risk factor after menopause because a woman’s production of estrogen drops. Fortunately, many heart disease risk factors can be controlled by making changes in lifestyle and, in some cases, by taking medication. 

Modifiable risk factors for heart disease include:

• Smoking: Cigarette smoking greatly increases the risk of heart attack and stroke, as well as lung cancer and other serious diseases.  There is simply no safe way to smoke.  But the rewards of quitting are enormous.  Just one year after you stop smoking, your heart disease risk will drop by more than half.
  
• High Blood Pressure: High blood pressure can lead to heart disease, stroke, congestive heart failure and kidney disease.  Usually, blood pressure is expressed as two numbers, such as 120/80 mmHg (millimeters of mercury).  Blood pressure is considered “high” when it is 140/90 or above (or when it is 130/80 or above in people with Diabetes or Chronic Kidney Disease).  But even “high normal” blood pressure (130-139 over 85-89) raises your risk of heart disease.
  
• High Blood Cholesterol: Cholesterol travels in the blood in packages called lipoproteins.  Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) is often called “bad” cholesterol because too much LDL in your blood can lead to blockages in the arteries – and a possible heart attack.  The higher your LDL number, the higher your risk of heart disease.  Another type of cholesterol is high-density lipoprotein (HDL), also known as “good” cholesterol.  That’s because HDL helps remove cholesterol from your blood. An LDL level of 160 or above is high; less than 100 is optimal.  An HDL level of less than 40 increases your risk for heart disease; 60 or higher is protective.  Another key number is your total cholesterol, which should be less than 200.
  
• Overweight/Obesity: Sixty-two percent of all American women age 20 and older are overweight – about 33 percent of them are considered obese.  If you are overweight or obese, you are more likely to develop heart disease, even if you have no other risk factors.  Being overweight also leads to other risk factors such as diabetes, high blood pressure and high blood cholesterol.  Maintaining a healthy weight is key in heart disease prevention.
  
• Physical Inactivity: Not getting regular physical activity increases your risk for heart disease, as well as other risk factors, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and overweight.  And, for older women especially, physical inactivity increases the chances of developing osteoporosis, which in turn raises the risk of broken bones.  Research shows that as little as 30 minutes of moderate activity on most – preferably all – days of the week helps to protect the heart.  Some examples include a brisk walk, gardening or house cleaning.
  
• Diabetes: Diabetes is a major risk factor for heart disease, stroke, kidney failure, and other diseases.  The type of diabetes that adults most commonly develop is “type 2.”  You are more likely to develop this disease if you are overweight (especially with extra weight around your middle), physically inactive, or have a family history of diabetes.  Diabetes can be detected with a blood sugar test.

Are You At Risk?

To protect your heart health, it is important to find out your personal risk for heart disease.  Having more than one risk factor is especially serious, because risk factors tend to compound, worsening each other’s effects.  Fortunately, you have tremendous power to prevent heart disease, and you can start today.

The first step is to see your doctor for a thorough checkup.  Tell your doctor you want help in achieving your goal of heart health.  During your next doctor’s appointment, be sure to ask the key questions about your heart health we've listed in the pink box to the right.

Take Action

Research shows that women can lower their heart disease risk enormously – by 82 percent – simply by leading a healthy lifestyle.  In most cases, that means following a heart-healthy eating plan, getting regular physical activity, maintaining a healthy weight, and not smoking.  Some women also may need to take medication to control heart disease risk factors such as high blood pressure or high cholesterol.

Eat For Your Health

You can greatly improve the condition of your heart by eating healthfully.  The Dietary Guidelines for Americans tells you to:

• Choose a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol, and moderate in total fat;
• Choose a variety of grains daily, especially whole grains;
• Choose a variety of fruits and vegetables daily;
• Choose beverages and foods to moderate your intake of sugars;
• Choose and prepare foods with less salt; and
• If you drink alcoholic beverages, do so in moderation. 

The Dietary Guidelines also emphasize that you should aim for a healthy weight, by being physically active each day.

If you have high blood pressure or high blood cholesterol, you may need to make some additional lifestyle changes.  The WakeMed Heart-Healthy Food Pyramid is an educational tool that can help you make healthy eating choices for you and your family with the hopes of lowering your risk for heart disease, obesity and diabetes.

Learn New Moves

Regular physical activity is an excellent way to keep your heart healthy.  Plus, exercise helps you look and feel slim and trim.  From midlife on, women can particularly benefit from weight-bearing activities. In addition to keeping your bones healthy, weight-bearing activities help you to look and feel younger.  Good weight-bearing activities include walking, lifting hand weights, and carrying groceries.  Also helpful are activities that promote flexibility and balance, such as T’ai Chi and yoga.

Here are some simple suggestions for incorporating exercise into your daily routine:

• Take the stairs versus the escalator or elevator
• Park your car further from the store entrance
• Walk to the mailbox instead of swinging by in the car
• Get rid of the remote control and move during commercial breaks
• Over-emphasize motion when vacuuming, raking, sweeping or washing the car
• Walk around the soccer field at your child's game
• Take the long way to office meetings and walk while waiting for a plane
• Get up from your computer each hour; store your sneakers underneath your desk
• Walk a message to your co-worker versus email
• Buy a pedometer and aim to get the recommended 10,000 steps per day

Remember, getting your exercise doesn't mean you have to purchase expensive gym equipment.  Use items you have around the house, like soup cans as weights, to build strength and help tone muscles.  Repeat each of the following movements 15 times:

• Circles: With a can in each hand, make big circles, as if swimming.
• Flying: Raise arms up to shoulder height and back down to hips, as if trying to flap your wings.
• Curling: With palms turned forward, bend elbow bringing cans up to shoulder and back down to hips.
• Overhead reach: Push cans from shoulders straight up over head.
• Rowing: Lean over a chair, rest one hand on seat, reach and pull as if trying to start a lawn mower.    

Aim for a Healthy Weight

If you are overweight, taking off pounds can directly reduce your chances of developing heart disease.  If you’re overweight, even a small weight loss will help to lower your risk of heart disease and other medical conditions.  At the very least, try to avoid gaining added weight.

When it comes to weight loss, there are no quick fixes.  Lasting weight loss requires a change of lifestyle, which includes adopting a healthy, lower-calorie eating plan and getting regular physical activity.  Aim to lose no more than ½ to two pounds per week.  If you have a lot of weight to lose, ask your doctor, a registered dietitian, or a qualified nutritionist to help you develop a sensible plan for gradual weight loss.

WakeMed offers a wide range of personalized nutritional services and programs for both adults and children.  For additional information about WakeMed’s nutrition services, please call 350-7827.

Kick the Smoking Habit

There is nothing easy about giving up cigarettes, but with a plan of action, you can do it.  Become aware of your personal smoking triggers – the situations that typically bring on the urge to light up – and replace them with new activities.  Eat healthfully, get regular physical activity, and ask friends and family for support.  You also may want to participate in an organized program to help people quit smoking, offered by many health organizations and workplaces.  Also, several medications are now available to help people stop smoking.  Ask your doctor whether you should try any of these medicines.