VitaMist Health Tips for Women and Heart Disease

Health Tip: Women and Heart Disease


Remember, February is American Heart Month and today we are sending the THIRD in our series of information from the American Heart Association and the Centers for Disease Control relating to Heart Disease and Coronary Health

For today's Health Tip, the focus is on Women and Heart Disease:

Although heart disease is sometimes thought of as a "man's disease," it is the leading cause of death for both women and men in the United States, and women account for nearly 50% of heart disease deaths.

In 2006, heart disease was the cause of death in nearly 316,000 females.1

Heart disease is often perceived as an "older woman's disease," and it is the leading cause of death among women aged 65 years and older. However, heart disease is the third leading cause of death among women aged 25-44 years and the second leading cause of death among women aged 45-64 years. Remember that many cases of heart disease can be prevented! 2

Our CDC offers a WISEWOMAN Program

The mission of CDC's WISEWOMAN program is to provide low-income, under- or uninsured 40- to 64-year-old women with the knowledge, skills, and opportunities to improve diet, physical activity, and other lifestyle behaviors to prevent or delay cardiovascular and other chronic diseases.

WISEWOMAN provides these additional services:

• Screening for chronic disease risk factors.

• Dietary, physical activity, and smoking cessation interventions.

• Referral and follow-up as appropriate.

For more information on how you can take advantage of these services, you can visit www.cdc.gov/wisewoman/index.htm and click on program locations.

You may also be interested to read about Women and Heart Disease Campaigns:

The American Heart Association has a "Go Red For Women" campaign (www.goredforwomen.com), which is a nationwide movement that celebrates the energy, passion, and power women have to band together and wipe out heart disease. Thanks to the participation of millions of people across the country, the color red and the red dress have become linked with the ability all women have to improve their heart health and live stronger, longer lives.

The NIH is sponsoring a National Awareness Campaign (The Heart Truth Campaign) (www.nhlbi.nih.gov/educational/hearttruth/materials/wear-red-toolkit.htm). This campaign created and introduced the Red Dress as the national symbol for women and heart disease awareness in 2002 to deliver an urgent wakeup call to American women. The Red Dress alerts women of The Heart Truth message: "Heart Disease Doesn't Care What You Wear-It is the #1 Killer of Women."

1. Heron MP, Hoyert DL, Murphy SL, Xu JQ, Kochanek KD, Tejada-Vera B. Deaths: Final data for 2006. ( 2.3MB, 135 pages) National Vital Statistics Reports. 2009;57(14). Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics.

CDC. National Center for Health Statistics. Leading Causes of Death by Age Group, All Females - United States, 2004. Hyattsville, MD: Department of Health and Human Services.