On April 21, I received a call that my very good friend Millicent had just had a heart attack, driving to work on a freeway in south Minneapolis. I couldn't believe what I was hearing! She is in her early forties, in shape, and eats right! I knew heart disease is a serious health risk for women, but I just didn't think someone so young and healthy could get one. I was very wrong. Here are some sobering facts about women and heart attacks:
- 435,000 American women have heart attacks annually; 83,000 are under age 65; 35,000 are under 55.
- 42% of women who have heart attacks die within 1 year, compared to 24% of men.
- Under age 50, women’s heart attacks are twice as likely as men’s to be fatal.
- 267,000 women die each year from heart attacks, which kill six times as many women as breast cancer. Another 31, 837 women die each year of congestive heart failure, representing 62.6% of all heart failure deaths.
The wonderful news is that Millicent survived her heart attack and is doing fine. I asked her if she would write about her experience to educate women about needing to know the symptoms of a heart attack (they are different than the symptoms for men), and ways we can all make lifestyle changes to reduce our risk of having one.
Millicent agreed and here is her post:
~~~~
My heart attack was nothing like I thought it would be. No “I’m coming to see you, Elizabeth!” like Fred Sanford used to say. No lightning bolt of pain in my chest that made me fall instantly unconscious. No numb left arm or tingly fingers (until much later).
My heart attack was a gradual increase of pressure and pain that was unlike anything I ever felt before. Sort of like a strong, painful strumming in my chest. Think of the vibration a guitar string makes when you pluck it. That vibration is the sound you hear. I felt one long, painful, pressurized note that got progressively louder (more painful) as the seconds ticked by. It felt like a deep, strong vibration.
Toward the end, when I decided to call 911, is when the fear set in. I’m only 44, I’m pretty fit, is this really a heart attack? Am I going to die today?
FEAR is what made me call 911.
And FEAR is what saved my life.
If I hadn’t been afraid of dying too early of some ailment or disease, I wouldn’t have paid much attention to the symptoms of HEART ATTACK and STROKE for women. If I wasn’t afraid of getting stiff and out of shape in old age, I wouldn’t have tried to keep myself in reasonably decent shape all these years. And if I wasn’t afraid of passing out and having a wreck on the highway, I would not have pulled over when I did and called 911 for myself.
We women have to start being afraid again.
Be afraid to get out of shape!
Be afraid to die of some horrible disease!
Be afraid to become old and feeble.
These things are NOT INEVITABLE!
Please.
Eat LESS SALT! Our heart, kidneys, brain and liver can’t take it.
Eat LESS FAT! Our bodies aren’t made to carry it all.
Get more EXERCISE! Our bodies fall apart without it.
We can only take care of ourselves; no one else can do it for us.
I’m still afraid.
Are you with me??
~~~~
Related links:
