The Heart Truth

Helping women, especially women ages 40 to 60, understand their risk of heart disease and take action to protect their heart health.

What is Heart Disease?
There are many forms of heart disease, coronary artery disease, or coronary heart disease, is most common. Heart disease develops over years and progresses when the heart doesn’t get enough nutrient-rich blood.

• Heart disease is the #1 killer of American women
• Heart disease kills more women than all forms of cancer combined
• Heart disease can permanently damage your heart—and your life
• If heart disease is not treated, serious complications can develop

Heart Attack Symptoms

• Chest pain, discomfort, pressure, or squeezing
• Upper-body pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, shoulders, neck, jaw, or upper part of the stomach
• Shortness of breath
• Breaking out in a cold sweat
• Unusual or unexplained fatigue (tiredness), particularly in women (which may be present for days)
• Nausea/vomiting
• Light-headedness or sudden dizziness
  

Why Focus on Women?

• Historically, women have been understudied, undiagnosed, and undertreated
• With awareness campaigns, improvements have been made, but there is still work to be done
• There is an increasing mortality rate noted in younger women
• Women from racial and ethnic minorities have a disproportionate cardiovascular morbidity

You Can Lower Heart Disease Risk

• Begin today—make changes one step at a time
• Don’t smoke—if you are a smoker, ask your health care provider for help in quitting
• Be physically active—2 hours and 30 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity each week
• Add strength training—2 to 3 times a week
  • Follow a healthy eating plan
  • Low in saturated fat, trans fat, and cholesterol and moderate in total fat
  • Limit salt and sodium
  • Limit alcoholic beverages to no more than one a day
  • Choose a variety of whole grains, fruits, and vegetables daily
  • Choose fish, poultry, and lean cuts of meat
  • Use nonfat or low-fat milk, cheeses, and yogurt
    
• Maintain a healthy weight

Meet Jayne, 70, of Merrick, NY

When Jayne Dickie, a 70-year-old grandmother of 11 from Merrick, breast cancer survivor and self-confessed “gym rat,” was diagnosed with advanced coronary artery disease and told she needed to undergo a triple bypass heart surgery to fix the arteries, she thought, “This can’t be happening to me.”

Meet Beverly, 55, of Freeport, NY

For months, Ms. Gilchrist-Hobson had been experiencing mysterious periods of fatigue and shortness of breath. Although concerned, the high-energy, fitness-conscious crime victim advocate chalked up her symptoms to a hectic lifestyle and job stress.

If Ms. Gilchrist-Hobson had been aware at the time, however, that recurrent fatigue and shortness of breath are two of the most common symptoms of high blood pressure (or hypertension) in women she would have scheduled an appointment to see her physician. Instead, she eventually found herself at Mount Sinai South Nassau’s Emergency Department, weakened and struggling to catch her breath. 

Meet Maria H., 78, of Oceanside, NY

Maria is a leader in our community who almost brushed off a terrible pain in her chest after thinking it was indigestion. Instead, her quick thinking lead her to Mount Sinai South Nassau's Emergency Room and then to her South Nassau cardiologist and Jason Freeman, MD, Director of International Cardiology at Mount Sinai South Nassau's Center for Cardiovascular Health. It turned out one of Maria's main arteries to her heart was 90% blocked and she needed a stent.

Learn more about how this grandmother of five is back on her feet, just weeks after her cardiac procedure at Mount Sinai South Nassau.

Resources for a Healthy Heart
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
Office on Women’s Health, HHS National Women’s Health Information Center
Women Heart: The National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease
Go Red for Women

Learn More

The Center for Cardiovascular Health