The Heart Truth for African American Women: An Action Plan

I selected this article because I wanted to become educated on heart disease, considering the fact hat it is the number one killer among women in the United States. I learned that out of all of the women affected by heart disease, African Americans women are at the top of the list. Even though, we are affected the most by the disease we can decrease our rate by 82% just by creating and living a healthier lifestyle. In case you are wondering, a heart disease is a disorder of the blood vessels of the heart that can lead to a heart attack. I found it very interesting to know that women 55 years and older have an increase chance of developing heart disease because after menopause the body no longer produces estrogen. For some reason, I did not know that estrogen had anything to do with heart disease. The leading causes of heart disease are smoking, high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, obesity, physical inactivity, and diabetes. I thought that diabetes would have the greatest impact on the disease; however, I was wrong. Smoking has the greatest impact and if you can stop smoking you decrease your risk by more than half.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. The Heart Truth: Women & Heart Disease