We don’t really like to talk about heart disease. Why is that? It’s the number one killer of women and is more deadly than all forms of cancer. But still it is not discussed nearly as much as it should be. Many women are just uninformed when it comes to heart disease and its symptoms. Go Red for Women is an organization dedicated to educating women with facts and dispel myths, tell you what symptoms to look out for, and solutions on how to cope with the disease. This is definitely something we could all use!
All too often women are expected to be everything for their loved ones. For Julia Allen, it took a heart attack for her learn to put herself and her health first. Even when she started having severe chest pain, she still put others first. Only after did she drive herself to the emergency room while having a heart attack. Of course there were signs that she ignored which many of us do. High blood pressure, high cholesterol, weight gain and anemia were all red flags She thought that heart disease was just something that affected everyone but her. At the emergency room, Julia told the registrar that she thought she was having a heart attack and immediately collapsed. She had a second heart attack that evening.
Now after making lots of serious lifestyle changes to reduce her heart attack risk, she’s lost 30 pounds. She’s also eating healthier food and making more time to exercise. Additionally Julia has taken the time to reduce stress, which many people don’t believe to be as large of a factor as it is.
As someone who was diagnosed with high cholesterol at the age of 14 I understand considerably how much this can affect your life early on. That combined with my severe acid reflux I was made aware early on how careful I hate to be. When I was diagnosed I was already very active but I had to drastically change my eating habits.
Being heart healthy is still something I struggle with today but with information made available on sites like goredforwomen.org, information doesn’t have to be so hard to obtain and understand. Bottom line when dealing with heart health, your body talks to you and you need to listen. Don’t ignore it.
