Heart disease touts some pretty scary statistics. For one, it accounts for 40 percent of all U.S. deaths (leading cause for both men and women), that’s more than ALL forms of cancer combined. Heart disease isn’t something to be taken lightly, but there is good news. It’s a manageable disease (often preventable) and fortunately, as Dr. Jaffe writes in her post, “we have numerous means for intervention in heart disease. Unlike so many cancers and other causes of death, we have excellent ways to reduce risk factors, diagnose and treat the disease.”

For a long time though, heart disease was considered more of an affliction for men than women. In fact, since 1984, more women than men have died each year from heart disease, and the gap between men and women’s survival continues to widen. This may be attributed to the fact that women’s symptoms are often different than in men, and are often misunderstood or go unnoticed. Dr. Demori explains in her article, “Often when women go to the emergency room with a heart attack, their symptoms have been present for a longer period of time as compared to men.” This can lead to more serious damage and worse outcomes.

It’s important for all of us to know our risk factors and also know that we can change and control many of them. “The modifiable risk factors include smoking, high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol and an unhealthy lifestyle.” Unhealthy lifestyle can be defined by a poor diet and lack of exercise, and Lisa Cooper, registered dietitian for Orlando Health Cardiac Rehab, wrote an in-depth article about changes you can make now to live a heart healthy lifestyle,  “most people in cardiac rehab do not make the necessary lifestyle changes until after the fact, after the heart attack or stroke, and it’s much more difficult to do after the fact.”

• Kills more women than men each year
• More women die from heart disease than breast cancer and lung cancer combined
• More women than men die or never fully recover from a heart attack
• Women experience different symptoms than men
• Women are more likely to suffer a heart disease related stroke than men

Watch her interview en Espanol here, and check out her article on According to Winnie that goes in depth about the symptoms women must not ignore.