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​Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women

King draws awareness with Go Red Day

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When someone walks into King’s Commons, they will see how business teacher and creative designer Leslie Spain honors women during February, which is heart awareness month for women. 

On Feb. 2, King had National Wear Red Day to show support for women who suffer with cardiovascular disease and give information for prevention. Heart disease is the number one killer of women, particularly in African-American women. During the month of Feb. King’s students are able to help underpin education and spread awareness to their peers.

“Cardiovascular disease refers to conditions that involves narrowed or blocked blood vessels that can lead to a heart attack, chest pain, or a stroke,” said St. John Providence Health Center registered nurse Michele Berry.

Sometimes family is around a person who has heart disease and might not know the symptoms to look for. Sadly, the first sign could be a massive heart attack.

“She [my mother] didn’t know she had it. It came out as angina and from angina it went to a massive heart attack. What was happening with her upper right atrium was, it was quivering so it would squeeze small clots because it would stop beating correctly,” said math teacher Cheryl Young.

Many patients have to get heart surgery in order for their heart to correctly pump blood. After getting this operation, it can take months for the patient to heal and recover.

“I was born with a leaking heart valve and knowing that, I had to get surgery," said Barbara Watts, a heart disease patient. "What they did was cut underneath my breast and round up under my left arm on to my shoulder. The doctors went in and tied the heart valve to keep it from leaking so fast and that slowed my heart down to the pace it was supposed to be."

Heart disease is prevalent with black women. When it comes down to visiting a doctor or getting the proper exercise daily people start to reconsider their lifestyle choices.

Contributing factors to heart disease in women are a shift in hormones after menopause, smoking, high cholesterol, obesity, physical inactivity, diabetes, and high blood pressure. There are ways to prevent women from developing this disease.

According to Go Red for Women (a movement with the American Heart Association), “Many African-American women, particularly those who consider themselves perfectly healthy, perception may not always equal reality.”

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