My grandmother was a firm believer that “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” She worked hard to maintain a healthy lifestyle and it paid off. She passed away at the age of 100 ½ years. Her heart remained healthy and strong until the end. This was not always the case. There was a time, in her mid-50s, when her weight was up and her cholesterol was high. In a day when little was known about women and heart disease, her doctor got her attention and she took action. The excess weight and high cholesterol were short-lived companions in her life.
We are so much luckier today than our mothers and grandmothers were regarding heart disease. Education, resources, counseling, online tools – we have it all. Despite the resources available to us, heart related disease remains the number one killer of women in the United States. Statistics tell us that one in three of all women will die of heart related disease. These numbers are not just statistics on a piece of paper. These numbers represent very real women – mothers, daughters, sisters, aunts, best friends. The sad part is that 80% of most heart related disease is entirely preventable- we have the power to change this outcome!
In recognizing that prevention truly is the best medicine, the American Heart Association (AHA) recently revealed its Impact 2020 Goals. Impact 2020 is focused on reducing heart disease and stroke related deaths by 20% by the year 2020. Preventing heart disease from developing is the primary tool the AHA plans to use for accomplishing these goals. As a result, the AHA has provided you and me with even more tools such as Life’s Simple 7 and My Life Check (See, www.heart.org/MyLifeCheck) to help identify risk factors for heart disease and take appropriate action so that you and I don’t become a statistic.
One of the excellent tools available for women is the Better U Makeover featured on the Go Red for Women AHA website. Go Red for Women is specifically focused on education, raising awareness, and prevention of heart disease related health issues in women. The Go Red for Women website contains a treasure trove of information targeted specifically at promoting and meeting the needs of women in relation to their heart health. Resources range from the practical (heart healthy recipes) to coaching (online coaches available), encouragement/inspiration (bloggers, story shares), to the latest news impacting women and heart health.
For those interested in raising awareness regarding heart disease in women, Wear Red Kits are provided free of charge. These kits are wonderful resources that contain flyers, posters, risk assessment sheets, heart history family trees and PowerPoint presentations to help get the word out.
A preventative resource tool available on the Go Red for Women website is the Better U Makeover. This is a 12-week program designed to help you on your journey to build a healthier “you” from the inside out. Each week of the Better U Makeover focuses on a specific area of heart health ranging from risk factors and questions, to asking your doctor about precautionary steps you may take and lifestyle changes. The Better U Makeover provides users valuable resources such as strategies and tips, access to online coaches, a free BetterMe Coaching Tool (can be used on your desktop or with social media such as FaceBook), goal setting and journaling capability. The Better U Makeover also provides much insight to help you understand what you perceive to be the issues or obstacles that are preventing you from moving forward to good heart health and ways to overcome those obstacles.
I wish I could tell you that heart disease is a man’s only disease but that would not be true. Heart disease is very much a woman’s issue in today’s society. If you are still under 50, I wish that I could tell you that you had nothing to worry about- but that isn’t true either. While age brings an increased risk, heart disease can impact women of all ages. Remember, prevention is always the best medicine and it’s never too soon to begin. If you’re ready to begin taking your preventative medicine, then the Go Red for Women website and the Better U Makeover is an excellent place to start.
Until next time, here’s wishing you a healthy heart.
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Note: Go Red for Women is also available in Spanish as Go Red for Women por tu corozόn at http://www.goredcorazon.org/enes/about-us.html
American Heart Association, Go Red for Women, http://www.goredforwomen.org/index.aspx