Women: Beware Of Heart Disease

Many Risk Factors Are Controllable

Nutrio.com Team

Heart disease is a woman's concern -- every woman's concern. One in 10 American women 45 to 64 years of age has some form of heart disease, and this increases to one in four women over 65. Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of American women. In addition, 2 million women have had a stroke, and 93,000 women die of stroke each year.

This article tells you what kinds of habits and health conditions increase the chances of developing these diseases -- and what you can do to keep your heart healthy.

What Are These Diseases?

Both heart disease and stroke are known as cardiovascular diseases, which are disorders of the heart and blood vessel system. Coronary heart disease is a disease of the blood vessels of the heart, known as "coronary arteries." Coronary heart disease causes chest pain (angina) and heart attacks. Blood brings oxygen and nutrients to the heart. When too little blood flows to the heart, angina results. When the blood flow is critically reduced, a heart attack occurs. A lack of blood flow to the brain or, in some cases, bleeding in the brain causes a stroke. Some other cardiovascular diseases are high blood pressure and rheumatic heart disease.

Major Risk Factors

Some women have more "risk factors" for cardiovascular diseases than others. Risk factors are habits or traits that make a person more likely to develop a disease. Some risk factors for heart-related problems cannot be changed, but many others can be.

The major risk factors for cardiovascular disease that you can do something about are cigarette smoking, high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, being overweight and physical inactivity. Other risk factors, such as diabetes, also are conditions over which you have some control. Even just one risk factor will raise your chances of having heart-related problems. But the more risk factors you have, the more likely you are to develop cardiovascular diseases -- and the more concerned you should be about protecting your heart health.

Physical inactivity increases the risk of heart disease. It both contributes directly to heart-related problems and increases the chances of developing other risk factors, such as high blood pressure and diabetes.

Physical inactivity is increasing among Americans -- especially among women. According to the first-ever Surgeon General's Report on Physical Activity and Health, 60 percent of American women do not get the recommended amount of physical activity, while more than 25 percent are not active at all.

Fortunately, it doesn't take a lot of effort to become physically active. The Surgeon General's report and other research conclude that as little as 30 minutes of moderate activity on most, and preferably all, days of the week help protect heart health. Examples of moderate activity are brisk walking or bicycling, raking leaves, or gardening.

If you prefer, you can divide the 30-minute activity into shorter periods of at least 10 minutes each. If you already engage in this level of activity, you can get added benefits by doing even more.

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