Red Fridays: Women and Heart Disease Fact Sheet

After the overly saturated day of love, we move forward to talk about matters of the heart. These matters consist of the relationship you have with the very thing we can’t live without: the heart.

When it comes to health, it’s about being proactive than reactive. Just because you look okay doesn’t mean everything is okay. Even though I’m bringing awareness to the masses, I’m learning a great deal about heart health. When you know better, you do better!

Here are the facts…ma’am:

Facts on Women and Heart Disease

• Heart disease is the leading cause of death for women in the United States, killing 292,188 women in 2009—that’s 1 in every 4 female deaths.1
• Although heart disease is sometimes thought of as a “man’s disease,” around the same number of women and men die each year of heart disease in the United States. Despite increases in awareness over the past decade, only 54% of women recognize that heart disease is their number 1 killer.2
• Heart disease is the leading cause of death for African American and white women in the United States. Among Hispanic women, heart disease and cancer cause roughly the same number of deaths each year. For American Indian or Alaska Native and Asian or Pacific Islander women, heart disease is second only to cancer.3
• About 5.8% of all white women, 7.6% of black women, and 5.6% of Mexican American women have coronary heart disease.4
• Almost two-thirds (64%) of women who die suddenly of coronary heart disease have no previous symptoms.4 Even if you have no symptoms, you may still be at risk for heart disease.

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