Do You Have Heart?

Did you know...


• Heart disease is the #1 killer of American women.
• One in five women have some form of cardiovascular disease.
• In 1999, cardiovascular disease (CVD) caused the deaths of 512,904 females, 53.5% of all deaths from CVD.
• One out of three women compared with one out of four men will die within one year after having a heart attack.
• A woman's chances of developing heart disease soar after she goes through menopause.
• More women than men will suffer a second heart attack within six years after their first heart attack.
• African American women are 60 percent more likely to die of coronary heart disease than white women.
• Women with diabetes are 3 to 4 times more likely than men to develop heart disease.
• Fewer than one in ten women today think that heart disease is their greatest health threat.

Robert Longley reports in his article titled, Women's Heart Attacks Differ from Men's; research by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) indicates that women often experience new or different physical symptoms as long as a month or more before experiencing heart attacks.

In a NIH press release, Jean McSweeney, PhD, RN, Principal Investigator of the study at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock, said, "Symptoms such as indigestion, sleep disturbances, or weakness in the arms, which many of us experience on a daily basis, were recognized by many women in the study as warning signals for Acute Myocardial Infarcion (AMI).

Because there was considerable variability in the frequency and severity of symptoms," she added, "we need to know at what point these symptoms help us predict a cardiac event."
According to Patricia A.Grady, PhD, RN, Director of the NINR, "Increasingly, it is evident that women's symptoms are not as predictable as men's.

This study offers hope that both women and clinicians will realize the wide range of symptoms that can indicate heart attack. It is important not to miss the earliest possible opportunity to prevent or ease AMI, which is the number one cause of death in both women and men."

The NIH study, titled "Women's Early Warning Symptoms of AMI," is one of the first to investigate women's experience with heart attacks, and how this experience differs from men's. Recognition of symptoms that provide an early indication of heart attack, either imminently or in the near future, is critical to forestalling or preventing the disease.

The women's major symptoms prior to their heart attack included:

Unusual fatigue - 70%
Sleep disturbance - 48%
Shortness of breath - 42%
Indigestion - 39%
Anxiety - 35%

Major symptoms during the heart attack include:

Shortness of breath - 58%
Weakness - 55%
Unusual fatigue - 43%
Cold sweat - 39%
Dizziness - 39%

(a special thanks to About.com for this helpful information)

According to the Bible, the heart is the center not only of spiritual activity, but of all the operations of human life. (Proverbs 4:23) God entrusted us with this magnificent creation we call the human body. It is not only beautiful and miraculous in itself, but its the only one we will ever have in this life. Protect it. Care for it. Love it.

Let us pray. Merciful Jesus, during Your life on earth You showed great concern for the sick and the infirm. Have compassion now on those who are suffering from heart disease. Grant them a healing of mind and body and restore their strength and spirit. Comfort them with the knowledge that we are praying for them, and give them peace with a sense of Your Presence. Amen.

With much love,
Holly