Celebrated each year on the first Friday in February, February 5th is the national day to raise awareness that heart disease is the leading cause of death in women claiming the lives of 1 in 3 women. That’s almost one woman every 60 seconds!
The American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women movement was created to help reduce this risk of cardiovascular death in women by advocating for swifter action for women’s heart health, more research and dispelling misconceptions about women and heart disease. Misconceptions like:
Myth: Heart disease is for men and cancer is the real threat for women.
Fact: More women die from heart disease than men and heart related deaths in women
outnumber all forms of cancer combined.
Myth: Heart disease isn’t a young person's disease.
Fact: The combination of smoking and birth control raises the risk of heart disease by 20% in
younger women
Myth: I am fine because I don’t have symptoms.
Fact: In women dying from a sudden cardiac event 64% had no previous symptoms. The warning
signs for women are not the same as the classic severe chest pain seen in men. Women can
present with symptoms like upper abdominal or lower chest pain, nausea / vomiting, back
pain, dizziness, shortness of breath or extreme fatigue.
Myth: I have bad genes and there is nothing that I can do as heart disease runs in my family.
Fact: Genes are not your destiny and there are plenty of things you can do to dramatically lower
your risk of heart disease.
One way to improve our heart health is to reassess our daily habits and focus on lifestyle modifications.That is why we invite you to join us in this 28-day challenge Towards A Healthy Heart endorsed by the National Institute for Health. Every day is a chance to try a different healthy habit. We encourage you to print this page and circle your favorite habits along the way so once the challenge is complete the habits can become part of your regular routine.
GLIM is here to help support healthy lifestyle changes as well as to take a more in-depth evaluation of cardiovascular health. GLIM believes in looking beyond the basic cholesterol panel to get a more complete picture of heart disease risk as 50% of people that have a heart attack or stroke have normal cholesterol levels. GLIM works with the prestigious Cleveland Heart Lab to look at inflammatory markers as well as a more comprehensive lipid panel. Please schedule an appointment with GLIM to help reduce your risk of heart disease.
But in the meantime, put on your red and join a free virtual dance party to get your heart pumping on #WearRedDay!