Spring Break
Many Ways To Fight Heart Disease
Ashley McGown
Issue date: 2/22/07 Section: Focus
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"Take the word impossible out of your vocabulary, and dream big."
When Roddy's mother died of breast cancer, Roddy was under the impression that it was the leading cause of death in women. Much to her surprise, Roddy soon discovered that while breast cancer kills 40,000 women every year, it is cardiovascular disease that tops the charts, taking the lives of half a million women each year. This statistic haunted Roddy, who has since decided to spend a great deal of her time promoting awareness.
Roddy said that what disturbs her most about the number of women dying is the fact that 82 percent of the people who die from cardiovascular disease do so because of their lifestyles. Although cardiovascular disease is slightly hereditary, Roddy said that diet and exercise play a more important role in preventing the disease.
Roddy recommended 90 minutes a day as the ideal amount of exercise for all women.
"This includes walking around outside, taking the stairs instead of the elevator," she said. "Everything counts."
As far as dieting goes, Roddy said that cutting saturated and trans fats out of your diet and including omega 3 fatty acids in your diet are the two most important elements.
Because smoking constricts the arteries in the heart, Roddy said that smokers are also seven times more likely to die of a heart attack, as opposed to nonsmokers.
If all of these seemingly simple tips drastically reduce a person's chance of developing cardiovascular disease then why is the disease still claiming so many women's lives?
According to Roddy, the disease, can be very hard to detect in women because it has a different affect on the female body, opposed to a male body.
"The number one symptom of a heart attack in women is fatigue," said Roddy.
While men most often experience shooting pains in their left arms and chest, a heart attack in a woman's body usually only causes fatigue and minor aches and pains. Because of this, most women are unaware that something is drastically wrong, and most doctors are unable to diagnose the disease until it is too late.
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