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Take Heart--This Test Might Save Your Life

By HERWriter
 
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Every 60 seconds a woman loses her life to heart disease. Unfortunately, cardiovascular disease is the number one killer of women.

Everyday, 1,440 women will lose their lives to cardiovascular disease (which includes hypertension, coronary artery disease and stroke) and women have a 50 percent chance of dying from heart or blood vessel health issue.

One of the key things to remember is that heart disease is preventable. Heart disease develops over many years and chest pain is a symptom usually felt at the advanced stage of heart disease.

February is all about heart health education. As part of February’s Heart Health Month, the American Heart Association (AHA) recently launched My Life Check to educate the public about heart health. The My Life Check assessment is free and available at http://mylifecheck.heart.org/Default.aspx?NavID=1&CultureCode=en-US.

According to the AHA, four in 10 Americans believe they have ideal cardiovascular health.

The AHA’s My Life Check can provide you with an idea of how you are treating your heart and offer suggestions to take steps toward a healthier life. In just seven minutes, you can get your personal heart score and a custom plan with the seven simple steps you need to start living a heart healthy life. The online tool also offers suggestions for improvement.

You will have to provide information about your current blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar levels. Also, you will have to include information about your current physical activity, weight and smoking habits. After you add your information, the site provides you with a health score.

Your My Life Check score will range between 1-10. Ten is the best score which indicates the least risk for heart disease. If your test score is low, AHA delivers simple recommendations to improve and change some lifestyle habits.

For example, if you need to increase your activity level, the site will provide you with recommendations for physical activity. Or if you need to lose weight, the site may prompt you to increase the intake of certain food like fruit or fish. Also, the site provides easy to understand guidelines regarding exercise and healthy foods. Finally, the results may recommend you to work more closely with your doctor to work on borderline problems like cholesterol or blood pressure issues.

Also, this easy-to-use tool provides a "Life’s Simple 7" list. This is a practical list of things which will improve your overall health. For example, the recommendations include:

• Get active
• Control cholesterol
• Eat better
• Manage blood pressure
• Lose weight
• Reduce blood sugar
• Stop smoking

Adults at any age would benefit from taking the My Life Check test.

The My Life Check test could save your life.

Sources:
http://mylifecheck.heart.org/Default.aspx?NavID=1&CultureCode=en-US
http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20110222/HEALTH/102220311
http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20110222/OPINION01/702229993

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MC Kelby
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We value and respect our HERWriters' experiences, but everyone is different. Many of our writers are speaking from personal experience, and what's worked for them may not work for you. Their articles are not a substitute for medical advice, although we hope you can gain knowledge from their insight.