We'll be right back. And there's a reason for that. I was going to say that's important. It's important because heart disease is the number one killer of women in the United States.
And I don't think most women realize that. No, no. We think about breast cancer a lot. You know, that is, you know, a big deal for women.
But so is heart disease. Yes. Over 60 million women in the United States have some form of heart disease. That's a lot of people.
Yeah, 44%. 44%. So the likelihood that we know people affected by this is pretty high. Yeah.
Yeah. It is. You know, another staggering statistic? In 2023, heart disease was responsible for the deaths of over 304,000 people.
Women, excuse me. So that's like one in every five female deaths can be contributed to heart disease. Yeah, that's a lot. That's a lot.
And most women don't even know that heart disease is the number one killer. So there's some facts that we're going to share today. So lean in if you're a woman. Share this with somebody that you care about because we want to make sure that we're doing what we can.
Now, there's three different types of heart disease. Coronary artery disease. That's the most common. That we think about that.
You know, the plaque buildup and the walls of the arteries and the blood can't get to your heart where it needs to go. We're kind of most familiar with that one. But there's another one called arrhythmia. Arrhythmia, right.
That is when your heart is either beating too slow or too fast. Basically, it's beating in an irregular way. Yeah. I have trouble saying that.
Yeah. Atrial fibrillation is another word for that. So your heart is really not pumping the way it needs to be. Right, right.
And then there's heart failure. Basically, that's when, you know, the heart is just too weak to pump the blood to supply your organs with the blood that it needs. Now, that's serious. But that doesn't mean that your heart is not beating.
Okay? Just because you have heart failure. But it is very serious. So let's talk about some of the symptoms.
Because, you know, a lot of times, as men do we go through a lot of different pains and symptoms and things. So we ignore a lot of it. Well, and oftentimes with the signs and symptoms in women, it's different than it is for men. So it's important for us ladies to know what these symptoms are.
Because we can attribute it to other stuff in our lives. So angina, usually it's a dull or heavy chest discomfort or ache. Now, that's pretty classic. Right.
If you feel a chest ache or discomfort, you're probably going to seek help. Absolutely, as you should. Yeah. Other ones to note for females could be a pain in your neck, jaw, or throat area.
Or also a pain in your upper abdomen and back. And I'm like, I can say I slept wrong. I mean, you can come up with all kinds of excuses for that. Yeah, exactly.
So those are ones that we're not as familiar with. Yeah, yeah. There's some other symptoms that women can have. Nausea, nausea.
And I mean, that can be attributed to other stuff, too. Vomiting and then just tiredness. I mean, how often do we have that? But this is a fatigue that just won't go away.
It feels excessive. It's hard for you to even function if you're so tired. Well, if your heart is not working appropriately, then that makes a lot of sense. That blood care is oxygen.
And if you're not getting enough oxygen, you're going to feel sluggish. Yes. So be aware, ladies, of these symptoms, for sure. And we do want to remind people, you know, it is important to call 9-1-1 at the very first sign or symptom of a heart disease, heart attack, fluttering, chest palpitations, or if you have a sudden shortness of breath, fatigue, or you're swelling, definitely do not delay.
No, call 9-1-1-1. You would rather err on the side of caution. And see, many people don't call 9-1-1 because they don't want to be dramatic. And I can see me being in that category.
It's like, I don't want to be a drama queen, and they get here, and there's nothing wrong with me. Well, I would rather be a drama queen than have a funny deadly disease. Yes, exactly. That's what we want to do.
And if you're just not sure, you don't want to call 9-1-1, go to a walking clinic or something. Don't ignore the signs. Do not ignore any of the signs. So let's talk about some of the risk factors so that we have a better concept of, you know, what we're dealing with in our own lives.
High blood pressure. I think I probably got some attention when I said that. A lot of people have it. It's a major risk factor for heart disease.
Over 45% of women in the U.S. have high blood pressure. A lot of them don't know it, okay? And high blood pressure here, and we were talking about the CDC, it's defined as having a blood pressure 130 over 80 or higher.
Okay, well, and you know what's normal is 120 over 80, so that's not a whole lot of blood pressure. It's not, yeah, yeah. So, you know, a lot of people have it, and it's a high risk factor. Well, and having high blood pressure, it definitely increases your risk of developing either heart disease or having stroke, and it can lead to death.
So you talk about people not even knowing it. That's why it's so important, ladies, for us to have our regular checkups, our annual physicals, because they can check your blood pressure, or you can do it at home if you're starting to feel a little off. Another risk factor is, honestly, your race. Yeah, because black women are nearly 60% more likely to have high blood pressure than black women.
It could be we're not going to the doctor, we're not going soon enough, you know, it could be dietary factors, it could be a lot of different things. But the point is, if we're more likely to have high blood pressure, then we're going to be more likely to have heart disease. So we definitely want to make sure we're doing those doctor visits. Pregnant women, also, a lot of them have high blood pressure.
If you have twice the risk of developing heart disease later in life, if you were pregnant with high blood pressure, then you have doubled your risk of having heart disease later when you're not pregnant. Right, yes, and that happens in like one in every eight pregnancies, so that affects a lot of women. Some other risk factors, y'all, that we really need to kind of look at is your cholesterol breakdown, if you have consistently high LDL. Again, you might go to the doctor and find that out.
Exactly, if you're a smoker, if you have diabetes, if you carry excess weight, if you are eating an unhealthy diet and you're not physically active, drinking too much alcohol, and then stress and depression can also be another risk factor. So that's an extensive list. Yeah, yeah, it really is. And, you know, there are some things that, you know, women specifically face when it comes to heart disease.
And, you know, it has to do with, you know, just things that have to do with your reproductive organs, you know, and what age you started menopause, and, you know, did you have diabetes during your pregnancy, and, you know, just things that you don't even think about that relate to this, but they do. Right. Yeah, so it's important to learn what those are. So let's talk about reducing our risk.
Yeah, what can we do about that? What can we do so that we can have some power here? Again, know what your blood pressure is. Find out at your doctor's office, monitor it at home, get you one of those little wrist cuffs or arm cuffs, whatever you feel comfortable with, because we know that I'm in control of blood pressure.
We're looking at kidney failure, stroke, heart disease, dementia, and how blood pressure a lot of times doesn't have any symptoms. Right. Now, we're thinking we're going to get this massive headache, and I'll know, but a lot of people walking around that are above those numbers that I gave, they don't have symptoms. So we need to talk to our doctor and our health care team, again, not just about this, but about another issue.
That's diabetes. Yeah. Okay? So we need to find out if we need to be tested for diabetes, or is it a genetic thing?
Is it something they need to be watching for? If people in your family have it, based on your eating habits, your weight, when they do your blood test, what's your glucose running? Because, because, because, having uncontrolled diabetes can lead to a higher risk for heart disease. Yeah.
So it's related. It is. It's related. And we mentioned smoking earlier as a risk factor.
Quit smoking. If you don't smoke, please don't start. If you do smoke and you are willing to try to stop in Tennessee, you can dial 1-800-QUIT-NOW. That's the Tennessee Tobacco Quit Line.
1-800-QUIT-NOW. And they have free resources. It's free. And they can help you with some tools and things that you need to help you.
Right. You're going around. No, no, no. There is help in Tennessee.
I don't know if the other states have it, but check with your health department. Right. And they will know resources. Right.
Because they want to help you quit smoking. Also, when you're at your doctor, get them to run that panel. I kind of mentioned that earlier. But you need to know what your numbers are related to cholesterol and triglycerides.
Triglycerides is the amount of fat in your blood system. You know, and your cholesterol is good and bad. And you need to know what that total number is. So have your doctor run those panels and then get your results so you can know.
And some of that you can help change with diet and exercise. Yeah. Speaking of exercise, we need to be getting 150 minutes of physical activity each week. So to break that down, that's about 30 minutes of activity on five days a week.
Right. Even if we can't do 30 minutes all at once, if we can do a little short burst of activity. You know, we can do 10 minutes here and 10 minutes here and 10 minutes here. The point is to get your heart pumping for a total of 30 minutes.
You know, get going. So that physical activity is going to help reduce our risk for heart disease. Well, and besides exercise, we need to really monitor what we're putting on our plate. We've got to start making healthier food choices, choosing things that do not increase our risk.
So, you know, eating lower fat, we need to be eating higher of, like, whole products, like fruits and vegetables, and how you cook them, like, not deep-frying things, baking things, grilling things, et cetera. Because, you know, when we are overweight, that does increase our risk for heart disease. And if you have diabetes, you need to consider that as well. And cholesterol.
Like, healthy eating and exercise can help everything that you're dealing with. Using less salt is also something that we need to look at, especially if we're dealing with blood pressure issues. But even if we're not, eating less salt is going to help with our heart disease risk. Alcohol is a contributing factor.
Limit how much alcohol that you drink. If you're pregnant, don't drink any alcohol because there's no safe amount of mandated for pregnancy. But limit how much you're drinking because it does increase your risk. Absolutely.
And finally, too, this is something that we all probably need to do, is learn how to have a healthy management for how you deal with stress. Stress affects so many things. You mentioned diabetes. And, you know, a lot of times we're not told that, you know, diabetes, that stress will make your blood sugar increase.
But stress affects a lot of health conditions. It really does. So learning how to manage your stress. Because it won't go away.
We're going to have stress. If you're living, you're not a stress. But there are healthy ways to manage it and to keep your stress level at a lower level. Yeah, let's try to lower it a little bit.
But you can start working on some of these ways, like just moving more, eating a little better, having more conversation with your physician when you're there, understanding your numbers. It's all going to help your heart. Yeah. And it's a good time to have those conversations.
Even if you've just got one of these risk factors that we mentioned, it's still a good time to introduce a conversation. Absolutely. So let's take care of ourselves. Yeah, let's do it.
Let's do it. So I think this is it for February. When we get back together, it's going to be March. Wow.
Which means spring is on the way. Can you believe that? No. I can't.
Yeah, it seems like time is lying. But anyway, we thank you all for joining us. In the words of Bob Marley, live the life you love. And love the life you love.
Bye-bye, everybody.