Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the name given to a large group of diseases affecting your heart, brain, and blood vessels that include heart attack, stroke, heart failure, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. Cardiovascular disease is viewed as primarily a male health issue, but this disease kills more women than men every year. More women die of heart disease every year than from all forms of cancer combined.

So, women of Peoria, don’t smoke. Eat less, and exercise more. Get that HDL (good cholesterol) up, and get that LDL (bad cholesterol) down. Get that nasty trans fat out of your diet, and reduce your stress level—or else.

Or else, you may have a heart attack, says the health care industry—especially if you’re post-menopausal, overweight, aren’t active, smoke, have diabetes, have high blood pressure, or have a personal or family history of heart problems.

Now that you’ve been warned, you have no excuse not to be healthy, right? Health care has done its part; we’ve put a lot of money and effort into building those Emergency Departments and ICUs. Now, the rest is up to you. All you have to do is…nearly the impossible.

You’re hooked on nicotine or Krispy Kremes, or you’re allergic to jumping jacks. So, just fix it before you have “the big one.” You know what to do. Every magazine, from Ladies Home Journal to Readers Digest, and every talk show, from Oprah to The View, has had a women and heart health program. We all know what we should be doing, yet we’re getting more obese and more at risk of developing heart disease and strokes with every passing day. Why?

Your family doctor has probably done all she can: warn the patient of the obvious and follow up after the ER doc has called. Your doctor may not have warned you of the not so obvious: women having heart attacks sometimes don’t have the classic warning signs such as chest pain, pain radiating down the arm, or the sensation that an elephant is sitting on their chest.

Women’s symptoms may be subtler than men’s, take longer to develop, and may involve no pain. Women are often caregivers for others and frequently neglect caring for themselves. That’s why it’s important for everyone—and especially women—to be heart smart and recognize the other warning signs indicating possible heart disease: shortness of breath, nausea, ongoing fatigue, fainting spells, and gas-like pains that can’t be easily explained. These symptoms can go on for months or years before an actual heart attack occurs.

Many deceased heart attack victims probably thought to themselves, “This will pass.” And, at a time when they only had minutes to get help by calling 911, they were right. Both the symptoms—and the women—did pass.

So, what’s missing, and how can we better minimize the risks of heart and brain attacks? Missing are opportunities to be better educated about the risks and how to minimize them in supportive and motivating settings. If you eat a lot of fat, smoke, or have hypertension or diabetes, it may be difficult to get started in the right direction, but help is available.

In the Peoria area, we have some excellent resources for women. Being aware of what’s needed to live a healthy life is just the beginning. Having the facts isn’t enough. Learning more about the lifestyle changes you may have to make in a supportive—and even fun—atmosphere may be the piece in the health care system that’s been missing. But it’s not missing in the Peoria area any more. For more information, call 683-6655. TPW