QUINCY, IL (WGEM) -- As you get dressed this morning, don't forget to grab your red. It's National Wear Red Day as the American Heart Association raises awareness about heart disease, for women especially.
Blessing Hospital Heart Surgeon Dr. James Kase says if you ask women what health issue they're most concerned about, it's breast cancer. But, heart disease is the biggest killer in women.
Symptoms of heart disease can be pain in the chest, jaw or shoulder. But, Dr. Kase says women can have significantly different symptoms of heart disease than men like fatigue and shortness of breath.
The Cardiac Program has been at Blessing Hospital for 8 years, and in that time, nearly 1,000 heart surgeries have been performed.
"To me it shows how much heart disease is out there. You take that 1,000 and then you add in addition to that, patients that have ango-plastys and stints and whatever, you can multiply that by 5 or 6. I mean there's a lot of people in this community that have heart problems."
According to the American Heart Association, heart disease kills about one woman every minute.
You have the power to prevent or reduce your risk of heart disease by following some easy steps:
Here's some medication free strategies to help prevent heart disease:
- Get active
- Eat better
- Manage blood pressure
- Control cholesterol
- Reduce your blood sugar.
- Lose weight
- Stop Smoking
