Heart Attack is the No. 1 killer among women; in fact women are more likely to die after a heart attack than men, according to studies. So obviously heart disease is something that women need to watch out for and guard against very keenly indeed! Some tips to prevent female heart attack are:
Watch out for the symptoms: The fact is that heart disease is less easy to diagnose in women because the symptoms are different or in some cases there may be no symptoms.
Women may experience tiredness or fatigue, indigestion or gas like pain or general and prolonged chest discomfort or tightness or pressure. They may find themselves feeling dizziness or lightheadedness, nausea, and even fainting spells.
There could be pain between the shoulder blades, or a radiating pain in the arms, shoulders and neck.
Cut the vices: It goes without saying that if you are smoker, you must stop smoking to considerably reduce your heart disease risk. Excessive alcohol consumption is also a no-no.
Keep tabs on your health: Regular health checkups and consultations with your doctor will help to give you early warning of impending heart disease so that you can take preventive or corrective measures.
Your doctor should be familiar with your medical history and if required you should take the C – reactive protein test to measure the body’s inflammation levels which are a heart disease predictor.
Eat right and exercise: It may sound like a no brainer, but it bears repeating: eat plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables every day, eat fatty fish, use good quality cooking mediums such as olive oil rather than saturated fats and try and cook at home as much as possible.
Be active and incorporate medium exercise into most days of the week. If it is gardening you enjoy, or taking the dog for a walk or even mowing the lawn, do whatever it is that will get you moving.
Get enough rest: It is not a contradiction to say that you must exercise and also get enough rest. It is a way of saying that you should have the right balance of both in your life.
Lack of adequate sleep has been seen to be the cause for many health problems including increased stress, increased inflammation in the body, etc. So getting 6 to 8 hours of restful and good quality sleep each night is also very important to avoid getting heart disease.
