When we talk about heart health or heart diseases, mostly men are considered to be the more affected sex. Many researches are around them, and what ails men and their hearts. But I find it funny and ironic that men who are known to be stoic, less emotional and far less concerned with the matters of the heart get all the attention even in this segment, and women on the other hand who bear the brunt of being overly concerned with hearty hearts are side-lined in this crucial battle for life.
Almost 3.3 million women lose there lives every year globally to heart attacks and another 3.2 million die from strokes. If that is not enough, women don’t even suffer the same way. Which means that the most prominent symptoms like chest pain, shortness of breath that show in men are often missing in women. Women tend to have subtler symptoms which results in delays in treatment and diagnosis, even in scenarios of heart attacks and strokes.
In the face of such circumstances, only more awareness and knowledge can reduce this number. Here are a few symptoms that should indicate all is not well with your heart:
- Chest discomfort, or pain that goes to your abdomen, arms, neck, jaw
- Shortness of breath, extreme fatigue
- Palpitations
- Nausea, vomiting (flu-like symptoms)
- Heartburn and others
Humans are the only ones to practice discrimination, but nature doesn’t and nor does diseases. Men and women are equally tormented by CVD’s and certain factors increase the risk in both genders:
- High cholesterol
- Diabetes
- Obesity
- Smoking, alcoholism
- Sedentary and unhealthy lifestyle
If you think age is a factor then yes after menopause, there are increased chances for heart problems but being younger cannot guarantee you freedom from its clutches. The trick to manage and reduce your risk of heart diseases or if you already suffer from them to keep your heart ticking is to practice a healthy lifestyle. Here are the key points:
- Healthy Diet: okay this is going to get me a few raised eyebrows, but remember the heart is way more precious than taste. So a plant-based diet will work wonders for your heart as compared to a meat diet. If you don’t want to leave it all together definitely curb it down and also the processed items for the vegetarians already
- Exercising: we cannot stress anymore that human bodies are not to be left inactive. You have to have a bare minimum of 30 min of exercise time a day. This is beneficial not just for your heart but every other organ too.
- Manage your stress and find your happy place. Stress is so much more damaging then it appears. So no matter what you do, learn to manage it, learn the art of staying happy anyhow.
I read somewhere “Everything that matters hurts until it doesn’t matter anymore.” And the heart always matters, so don’t let it hurt women, keep it safe, keep it happy, keep it like you keep your baby.