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Women’s Fitness – Your Heart & Your Health

It’s February, the Valentine month and a month when you should listen to your heart – physically as well as romantically. For most women, the signs of coronary heart disease are not as recognizable as you might think. Despite medical evidence, most women just don’t think a heart attack can happen to them. But every year, 500,000 women or more die from cardiovascular diseases including:

  • Heart Disease
  • Coronary Disease
  • Stroke

Did you know that according to the American Heart Association, more women than men have died from cardiovascular disease since 1984?

Your Heart is a Muscle

Like all other muscles in your body, your heart requires oxygen. It requires nutrients and it requires the blood that is carried through the coronary arteries. If your coronary arteries become clogged or become narrowed due to coronary artery disease – your heart is not going to get enough oxygen and that can result in stroke, heart attack and more.

While a man may be at greater risk for a heart attack, women are half as likely to survive one and more likely to have a second one. So the time to start taking care of your heart is now. Cardiovascular workouts, quitting smoking and taking better care of yourself can help reduce the incidence and the risk. This is also why you need regular checkups.

You need to know how your heart is. You need to know if your cholesterol levels are high. You need to know about your blood pressure, because high blood pressure increases the risk of stroke, kidney disease and congestive heart failure. When you exercise regularly, you can actually help reduce your blood pressure and cholesterol levels.

According to the American Heart Association, a quarter of all American women have high enough levels of cholesterol to create a risk for coronary heart disease. For women over the age of 40 and approaching menopause, your risk increases because estrogen provides you with some measure of protection against coronary heart disease.

So listen to your heart and take care of it.

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About Heather Long

Heather Long is 35 years old and currently lives in Wylie, Texas. She has been a freelance writer for six years. Her husband and she met while working together at America Online over ten years ago. They have a beautiful daughter who just turned five years old. She is learning to read and preparing for kindergarten in the fall. An author of more than 300 articles and 500+ web copy pieces, Heather has also written three books as a ghostwriter. Empty Canoe Publishing accepted a novel of her own. A former horse breeder, Heather used to get most of her exercise outside. In late 2004, early 2005 Heather started studying fitness full time in order to get herself back into shape. Heather worked with a personal trainer for six months and works out regularly. She enjoys shaking up her routine and checking out new exercises. Her current favorites are the treadmill (she walks up to 90 minutes daily) and doing yoga for stretching. She also performs strength training two to three times a week. Her goals include performing in a marathon such as the Walk for Breast Cancer Awareness or Team in Training for Lymphoma research. She enjoys sharing her knowledge and experience through the fitness and marriage blogs.