Early studies of heart disease contributed to the myth that heart disease is more common among men. That’s simply not true. Women are less likely to recognize the danger. In my opinion that is due to the fact that we as women take care of everyone around us and put ourselves last.
I talk with Lauren Crump with UMC who works in the Cath Lab and she starts out by telling me, “if you as an individual take more control and take some ownership into your diet and your health then that’s going to impact the results and the effect cardiovascular disease has on women.” Lauren is an MSN, RN, and CCRN and she sees the effects of cardiovascular disease on a daily basis. The fact that cardiovascular disease is the number one killer for women is scary.
Crump says, “it’s really important to know your numbers. Five numbers we should know are: Blood Pressure, Blood Sugar, Body Mass Index, Total Cholesterol, and HCL better known as good cholesterol.”
I’m embarrassed to say I didn’t know mine, which means we all need to be more intentional about finding them out. Crump tells us, “having that appointment with your doctor and going over those numbers and discussing the typical and atypical signs for heart disease is a real critical conversation you should have.” And the five numbers Lauren mentioned all relate to how well we eat and exercise. She emphasizes, “Well one in three women experience cardiovascular disease and actually die from it. Eighty percent of those can be prevented. So knowing your numbers, increasing some of the activities we can prevent like not smoking, being more active, knowing your blood pressure, and then there’s things we can’t change such as our age, gender, and family history. Just baby steps knowing your numbers and working to improve those and being proactive about your health and if you’re currently in an exercise regimen you know increasing it gradually and if you’re not doing anything then baby steps just starting to move, take the stairs, park a little further away, things like that.”
Women as a whole can come together as a community and remind each other our health is important. To be more involved and start your new year off right by getting to know about “Go Red for Women”. You can find out more about it by copying and pasting following website in your browser. https://ahanwtx.ejoinme.org/MyEvents/20182019LubbockGoRedLuncheon/tabid/976830/Default.aspx
