TAKING CARE OF YOUR HEART !!!!!!!!

[Cheryl K.]

AMERICAN HEART ORGANIZATION ….http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/

GO RED FOR WOMEN ….. http://www.goredforwomen.org/

GO RED LEARN ABOUT HEART DISEASE AND STROKE….http://www.goredforwomen.org/about_h...nd_stroke.aspx

GO RED FOR WOMEN ….. http://www.goredforwomen.org/take_action.aspx




I went to a seminar on WOMEN’s HEALTH SEMINAR, this is what I learned. …..

HEART ATTACK is the number ONE killer of women in America. HEART ATTACK kills more women than all cancers combine, including breast cancer. WOMEN’s rate of HEART DISEASE is ELEVEN TIMES HIGHER THEN ALL THE CANCERS COMBINE. (Remember, women who have had breast cancer can still have a heart attack.)

Women die FROM HEART ATTACKS at a rate of ONE WOMAN PER MINUTE in the USA.

WOMEN are more likely to die from a heart attack. When WOMEN have a heart attack, they have a poorer long term prognosis and are more likely to have a second heart attack. WOMEN have more severe consequences from the heart attack ….. more likely to develop congestive heart failure, decrease heart function, and become a cardiac cripple.
Why do more women die of heart attack and heart disease?

UNDER DIAGNOSIS
UNDER TREATMENT OF WOMEN
DENIAL OF SYMPTOMS BY THE WOMAN
WOMAN’S ANATOMY

LACK OF STUDIES IN WOMAN’S HEALTH ( In the past results from men studies were applied to women, but we are not the same.)

HEART ATTACK IN WOMEN PRESENTS DIFFERENTLY IN WOMEN THAN IN MEN. ( Mostly due to the anatomical differences between women and men.) Many women are unaware of the symptoms.

Pain in the back and shoulders, radiating to the jaw and neck.

SYMPTOMS tend to be vague…. “ I feel tired, I just need to rest.” Symptoms are not recognized as cardiac or MI

Flu like symptoms, Nausea and Vomiting

Unspecified anxiety

WOMEN ignores major cardiac symptoms, before, the major event/ heart attack.

WOMEN tend to ignore the symptoms because THEY ARE TOO BUSY TAKING CARE OF THE REST OF THE FAMILY and they deny they can be ill. NO TIME TO BE SICK. Many women get there health care from an OB-GYN doctor rather than a primary care physician or a cardiologist. OB-GYN doctors do not have the advance training to diagnosis or treat heart problems, they specialize in OB-GYN........... WOMEN ARE less likely to be referred for cardiac testing … EKG, cardiac stress, echoes, heart catherizations. This is slowly changing as more and more OB-GYN doctors refer to cardiologist and primary care doctors.

WOMEN’S anatomical structure IS different than men. The heart and vessels are smaller than men’s. Women have a higher death rate and a higher rate of complications. In the past women were treated less aggressively than men.

Pre- existing factors which contribute to heart disease:

Uncontrolled high blood pressure/ HTN

Diabetes and it’s associated complications

Smoking

Obesity

Family History

The future….. the need:

Increase patient / family education as to the causes of heart disease and the symptoms of a heart attack. Be honest, women run the home and the family. They not only impact their own health, but the health of the family. It is important for women to be educated about heart disease so they can educate the family. They control the family diet and health education and exercise.

Improve recognition of heart disease, need for early treatment. Current goal standard is less than 90 minutes from emergency room to catherizations lab the future is to shrink that TIME SPAN to less than an hour.. More aggressive treatment, prevention, and diagnosis of heart disease in women.

Increase gender specific research on better prevention, improving gender specific techniques for heart treatments.

WHAT CAN YOU DO TODAY???

SPREAD THE WORD….. Get your heart checked with a primary care physician and / or a cardiologist. Have your sister, mother, cousin, friends…. get their hearts checked.

Learn more about heart health…. IT is important to keep your blood pressure and diabetes in control. Exercise, more even if it is just walking a little more every day. Eat healthier…. Less salt/ sodium, less cholesterol and fats. Increase the fruits, vegetables, and fiber in your diet. Women control the health of the family… educate your kids.

If you smoke, quit. NEVER QUIT… QUITTING.

Learn MORE….

http://www.realage.com/

REAL AGE . COM

… REAL AGE . COM …. http://www.realage.com/landing/entry4?cbr=GGLE10037X

'''''''''''''~~

Nonnie/ aka Lady Rags

http://nonniequiltingdreams.wordpress.com/ Nonnie’s Blog

http://nonniesquiltingdreams.podbean.com/ Nonnie’s Quilting Dream Podcast

[Rita C.]

Thanks for that Nonnie. It's always good to be reminded of these things. I don't know about anybody else but I spend far too much time sitting every day (usually at the sewing machine or the computer) and not enough walking or taking exercise.

[Eileen K.]

Thanks for that Nonnie. It's always good to be reminded of these things. I don't know about anybody else but I spend far too much time sitting every day (usually at the sewing machine or the computer) and not enough walking or taking exercise.

Same here. Thanks for the update.

[Lotti D.]

a great way is to just walk a little more: http://www.thewalkingsite.com/10000steps.html
the recommendation is to walk at least 10'000 steps a day... that's about 5 miles - but if you actually start counting what you do walk every day - you will quite easily find places where you can make SLOW but STEADY increases that help you get there eventually...

- when shopping - park where you will have the largest/heaviest load - then walk to all the other shops,
ending up with this one

- when you chat on the phone - get into the habit of walking about the house - you'll be amazed how much distance
you will cover

- have a walk through your garden and stop to smell the flowers

- walk over to the neighbor for a little chat - or just to say hello how are you & spread a smile

- walk to the corner shop, window shop (we can do miles windowshopping and never notice)
- don't take the the parking space closest to the door - try the other end - smile and/or say hello to everyone
you meet on the way to the shop - you'll lift their mood - and yours as well

- have a little walk after dinner

- get friends / family / neighbors involved
make little challenges: who meets the first dog/cat on the way; who sees the largest number of flowers;
checkout the neighborhood yards
go roadsign detecting (once you look for them - you can often find roadsigns that are unnecessary /
obsolete / in contrast to each other

- whenever you can - use the stairs instead of the elevator - you don't need to do the whole 10 floors;
one or two will do for a start
what a sense of achievement when you find that you can do a whole other floor without breaking a sweat
i work on the 5th floor - if i havn't walked it for a while - i generally start by going up one floor,
then walking down the hall on this floor to the stairway at the other end and continue up from there,
this gives me enough time to catch my breath and get up the energy to do the next one... and so on...
and if i find it's too much to do all 4 - i just walk one or two - and catch the elevator from there - or - better
yet, plan my "excursions" with stuff that needs asking somewhere, picking up or dropping off - the time i need
to walk into this office or that, generally allows me to gets the energy recharge needed to walk the whole lot

as i work for a company that developes and produces cardiac diagnostic devices and defibrillators (i organize our international exhibitions), these statistics are quite old hat to me - but i still need to remind myself regularly that no one is exempt

remeber the old saying: an apple a day keeps the doctor away (just make sure it's not covered in sugar and cream) - and have a nice little walk while you munch it

lots of fresh fruit and veg - fill you up - taste yummy - and are so easy to prepare, to eat & to clear up ; something every quilter can appreciate.

keep healthy and keep smiling

[Paula D.]

Rolling back fabric prices would do my heart good! :lol:

[Deborah W.]

Thanks for all the tips. It is so hard to move when I get home from work I am so tired I just collapse and only move to walk upstairs to bed!!! That must change.

[Catherine S.]

Thanks for the reminders. I need to work on the exercise and eating healthy, starting now!! Next cardiologist appt. is in December. He would be very happy if I dropped a few (ok, many ) pounds and was exercising more.