We may think breast cancer, but actually the number one killer of women is heart disease.
February is American heart month and this write up talks about why it is that heart disease is so often not diagnosed among women and stressed in the importance of educating women about cardiovascular disease.
The reason that heart disease is a bit of a silent killer among women is the fact that heart attack symptoms, commonly understood to be chest pain radiating down the arm and up the jaw, are different among women.
They are often very mild to undetectable symptoms among women. It is therefore recommended that chest discomfort and shortness of breath should always be treated seriously; with immediate medical attention.
The best way to protect a woman’s heart is to exercise; the way to cut down her risk of heart disease is to quit smoking. The risk factors are the same for women as they are for men: family history, diabetes, hypertension, cholesterol etc.
