Heart disease-leading cause of death in women

Atlanta, February 1,: Heart disease is the major cause of death among millions of women all over the world and they are not even aware about this fact.

Narrating her life story, former Gwinnett County Commissioner, Judy Waters, 62, said that she discovered this truth the hard way. But she wants other women to know this reality.

Judy Waters was quoted as saying, “One day I was rocking and rolling, and the next thing I knew I was in surgery.” She was diagnosed with a heart problem in 2005 and even till now it is difficult for her to digest the fact that she had any such trouble.

Dr. Gina Lundberg, cardiologist and director of the Heart Center for Women at St. Joseph’s Hospital too agrees that most of the women do not believe that they can suffer from any heart problem.

Lundberg said, “Forty percent of women who had a heart attack had no previous warning symptoms. She further added, “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.”

In this respect, the Go Red campaign by the American Heart Association becomes all the more important. In addition, Go Red for Women, Friday’s National Wear Red Day and Wear Red Sundays are working towards sensitising women about heart disease and the risks associated with it.

Marla Wilson, Director of the Go Red campaign, said that this year they are aiming to raise $500,000 in order to fund the education and research efforts of the agency. Wilson also revealed that the biggest fund-raiser will take place on May 1, where a luncheon will be hosted.

Lundberg mentioned that since the 1970s, every year about half a million women die due to heart disease. There had been no significant decline in this number till 2002. But after the introduction of Go Red for Women in 2003, the statistics have shown a downward trend.

But a disturbing fact is that women who have gained from the campaign are mostly white. On the other hand, Hispanic and African-American women still believe that breast cancerdefine is the topmost reason of death in women. But the fact is that heart disease claims 17 times more lives than breast cancer does annually.

Also, African-American women are at a bigger danger of suffering from heart disease. They are followed by Hispanic women and white women who fall in the low-to-intermediate group.

This means that some communities are not getting the message. Therefore, more programs are being designed to educate women about the risk factors associated with heart disease. Diabetes and obesity are also prevalent among minority women.

Lundberg remarked, “I think the good news is prevention is possible. 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.”