Understanding How to Manage Cardiovascular Health

*This post was sponsored by the CDC. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

I have always had a concern for heart disease, one for being black and 2, for it running in my immediate family, my father to be precise. This has helped me take better precautions in ensuring I practice not only a healthy, but also an active lifestyle. Also being a woman, I found out that heart disease is the leading cause of death for women in the United States, which increases my chances of developing it in the future. Black and African-American women in general are 60% more likely to develop it than other races!

One of the rough things about this is only 56% of women recognize that heart disease is their number 1 killer. To be quite honest, I didn’t realize this myself until recently. It’s so bad, that one in every four women die of heart disease. Another thing that frightened me is that a woman’s symptoms vary from a man’s when having a heart attack. I personally thought I had this part covered, especially being around a father that suffered 2 heart attacks and being aware of his symptoms. When a woman suffers a heart attack, she may experience any of the following: sharp, burning chest pain and pain in the neck, jaw, throat, abdomen, or back, as well as experiencing nausea, fatigue, and profuse sweating.

When it comes to strokes, more women die from them than men. During pregnancy, the chances of developing a heart attack and stroke are even higher. The chance of these happening are raised in black and African American pregnant women. This is due to higher rates in high blood pressure, obesity, and diabetes.

Like with pretty much anything else, there are preventative measures one can take to help drastically reduce any heart failures and improve overall cardiovascular health. Healthy diet and regular exercise can go a really long way when protecting your heart. More specifically, here’s what you can do to protect yourself, regardless of whether you’ve had a cardiovascular event:

If you have not experienced one:

• Manage conditions that put you a risk, like high cholesterol, diabetes and obesity
• Don’t smoke
• Practice regular physical activity
• Manage stress
• Reduce sodium in your diet
• Get regular screenings for any potential heart disease or stroke risk factors such as high blood pressure, especially if these run in your family
• If you had high blood pressure during pregnancy, make sure to keep your doctors informed throughout your life

• Always take your medications as directed
• Participate in cardiac rehabilitation or stroke recovery
• Strengthen your heart and brain by measuring your blood pressure at home

None of us have to be a statistic when it comes to cardiovascular disease. There is always something that can be done to lower the chances and to stay healthy as long as possible. To learn more about women and heart disease, you can check out this link. Remember, happy hearts equals healthy lives! 😁

Photos: Madeline Faye Photography