Campaign warns that heart disease is the No. 1 killer
Judy Waters wants other women to know what she nearly found out the hard way —- heart disease is the leading cause of death among women worldwide.
“One day I was rocking and rolling, and the next thing I knew I was in surgery,” the former Gwinnett County Commissioner said.
To this day it is difficult for Waters, 62, to imagine she had any form of heart disease, discovered in 2005.
Many women don’t, said Dr. Gina Lundberg, cardiologist and director of the Heart Center for Women at St. Joseph’s Hospital.
“Forty percent of women who had a heart attack had no previous warning symptoms,” she said. “It’s really something you have to be looking for even if you consider yourself a healthy female because your first symptom can be the heart attack.”
And that, Lundberg said, makes the American Heart Association annual Go Red campaign crucial.
Go Red for Women, Friday’s National Wear Red Day and Wear Red Sundays are all geared toward raising awareness about heart disease in women and its risk factors. The goal this year is to raise $500,000 to help fund the agency’s education and research efforts, said Marla Wilson, director of the campaign.
Wilson said the Go Red for Women luncheon, its biggest fund-raiser, will be held May 1.
Heart disease has been killing a half-million women every year since the 1970s with no real decline through 2002, Lundberg said.
Since the 2003 launch of Go Red for Women, the numbers have begun to come down. About 360,000 women died from heart disease and another 90,000 died from stroke annually.
“It’s not a huge reduction but it’s a reduction due largely to the awareness campaign,” Lundberg said.
What’s troubling, she said, is that women who are benefiting from the campaign are disproportionately white. African-American and Hispanic women still think breast cancer is the No. 1 killer of women.
Heart disease kills 17 times more women than breast cancer every year.
Lundberg said African-American women are at higher risk of getting heart disease. Hispanic women are right behind them and white women are in the low- to intermediate-risk category.
“The information is not reaching those communities. So we’re trying to establish more programs so they hear about the risk factors,” Lundberg said.
Two big culprits among minority women are high incidences of diabetes and obesity in those populations.
“I think the good news is prevention is possible,” said Lundberg. “When these risk factors are identified early, there are things you can do to prevent heart disease. If we get the word out to women early, in their 20s and 30s, about the risk factors, then we’re going to save a whole lot more lives.”
Web sites: www.goredforwomen.org and www.americanheart.org
Stroke Warning Signs:
- Sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body
- Sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding
- Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes
- Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination
- Sudden, severe headache with no known cause
Heart Attack Warning Signs:
- Discomfort in the center of the chest that lasts more than a few minutes or goes away and comes back
- Pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw or stomach
- Shortness of breath with or without chest discomfort
- Other signs may include breaking out in a cold sweat, nausea or lightheadedness
Reference: – http://www.ajc.com
