Women’s Health & Awareness of Heart Disease

Heart disease is the No.1 cause of death of women in Australia, with 24 women succumbing to this silent killer every day.

According to the Heart Foundation, heart disease is three times more likely to cause death in Australian women than breast cancer. However, less than 40% of women are aware that it’s the leading cause of death in women’s health.

Navigating a breast cancer diagnosis can be an all-consuming experience. Whether processing the news, preparing for a mastectomy or going through chemotherapy, the process often takes over every facet of your life, and likely, the last thing on your mind is reconstructive surgery.

In fact, despite the continued destigmatization of plastic surgery like breast reduction, the growing number of resources for breast cancer treatment and prevention – and even the fact that health insurance is legally required to cover the costs of reconstruction after breast cancer – less than half of all women who require mastectomy were offered breast enlargement or reconstruction surgery as of 2017, and fewer than 20 percent opted for immediate reconstruction.

Who is More Likely To Get Heart Disease?

The risk of heart disease increases with age but younger women are also susceptible to this risk. In order to know your personal risk of developing heart disease, whether young or old, it is important to have a heart check-up with your local Melbourne GP. Besides having regular check-ups, there are other ways to promote women’s health and prevent heart disease. Over 90% of Australian women can modify at least one heart disease risk factor and 50% have two or three modifiable risk factors. For more on modern women health solutions we recommend to read this review about the borax suppositories | FlowerPower.

Can Heart Disease Be Prevented?

Heart disease can be prevented if you practice healthy lifestyle habits. We recommend a healthy diet, being physically active, maintaining a healthy weight, not smoking, limiting alcohol intake, and keeping your body pressure under control. Also, this AED helps you have a normal heartbeat. You can get your AED at https://aedadvantage.ca/.

Heart Disease and The Diet

According to WebMD, eating a heart-healthy diet would balance your cholesterol and blood sugar levels whilst also lowering your blood pressure and weight. High cholesterol, blood sugar levels, blood pressure and weight are all risk factors to heart disease and can worsen women’s health. A heart-healthy diet advises consumption of more plant-based foods such as vegetables, fruit, wholegrains, nuts, legumes and seeds. These foods contain fiber which is good for your cholesterol and aids in digestion.

Include fish or seafood into your diet as it provides a good source of protein and other nutrients. The Heart Association recommends at least 2-3 servings per week of fish such as salmon, tuna and mackerel that are rich in omega-3 fatty acids. They also recommend at least 2 servings per week of legumes (lentils and dried beans) as they are high in fibre and low in fat. Nuts, seeds, avocado, olives and their oils are a good source of healthy fats that help balance your blood cholesterol.

Reduce salt from your diet and add flavor to your dishes with herbs and spices. Most adults consume too much sodium which raises your blood pressure levels. Try to avoid consuming too much packaged foods as these tend to be high in sodium.

Other Ways To Reduce Heart Disease

A combination of both a healthy diet and exercising at least 2-3 times per week will promote women’s health and reduce the risk of heart disease. Making healthy lifestyle choices such as quitting smoking and reducing alcohol intake would also increase women’s health. Both smoking and drinking can raise blood pressure, increasing your risk of stroke and heart attack which leads to heart disease.

For more information, make an appointment with a professional physician at your local health care center.