Your Heart Health

Learn more about your heart health by taking our heart quiz.

Prevention Warning Signs Women's Heart Health

Prevention


You can help prevent heart disease
. Don’t ignore high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol or family history of heart problems – these are serious risk factors for heart disease. The key to heart health is understanding these factors and learning how to manage your risk with diet, exercise, and if necessary, medications.

How can I prevent heart disease?

• Choose to take action and lower your risk.
• Eat a healthy diet low in saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol and sodium.
• Keep your weight under control.
• Control your blood pressure and cholesterol levels.
• Manage your blood sugar if you have diabetes.
• Get regular medical checkups.
• Talk to your doctor about a prevention plan and medicines that may be right for you.
• Don’t smoke, and avoid secondhand smoke.

Know your numbers

Keep cholesterol, triglycerides, blood pressure and glucose in check. Even if you feel healthy, visit your primary physician regularly to monitor your levels.

You want to meet these target numbers:

• Total cholesterol: below 200 mg/dL
• LDL (bad cholesterol) should be below 130 mg/dL
• HDL (good cholesterol) should be above 40 mg/dL for men and 50 mg/dL for women
• Blood pressure: 120/80 mm/Hg
• Triglycerides: below 150 mg/dL
• Blood glucose: below 100 mg/dL

*Target numbers recommended by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute

Learn the warning signs of a heart attack

Symptoms of a heart attack vary considerably, even in patients who have experienced a previous heart attack. A heart attack can occur suddenly and cause severe, intense symptoms; however, most begin slowly and cause mild discomfort that may come and go.

Familiarize yourself with common warning signs and what causes chest pain.
 If you or someone you’re with experiences the following symptoms, call 911 for immediate assistance.

What causes chest pain?

Chest pain can be caused by many different medical conditions, including:

• Angina
• Heart attack
• Heartburn
• Collapsed lung
• Anxiety or panic disorder
• Asthma, bronchitis, pneumonia or pleuritis
• Injury to the chest wall or lung
• Blood clot that has traveled to the lung
• Pulled muscle
• Shingles
• Hiatal hernia
• Peptic ulcer

 
Take any warning signs seriously. If you or someone you’re with experiences chest pain, call 911 for immediate assistance.

Women’s Heart Health

Women, don’t forget about your heart. Heart disease is the number one killer of women age 20 and over.

It sounds scary, but it’s true. According to the American Heart Association:

• A woman dies every minute from cardiovascular disease, claiming the lives of over 460,000 women every year.
• More women die of cardiovascular disease than the next four causes of death combined, including cancer.
• 43 million American women are living with cardiovascular disease.
• Only 57 percent of American women recognized that heart disease is their leading cause of death.

Heart disease is largely preventable. Understanding heart disease and your risk factors is the first step toward prevention.

Know the warning signs for women

Symptoms of heart attack for women can be very different than what men experience.

• Chest discomfort, shortness of breath
• Discomfort in upper body
• Cold sweat
• Nausea
• Lightheadedness
• Unusual fatigue
• Sleep disturbance

Take any warning signs seriously. If you or someone you’re with experiences these symptoms, call 911 immediately.