Red and pink hearts now adorn stores and storefronts for Valentine’s Day but, a national awareness campaign is asking women to consider their heart health.
The Canadian Women’s Heart Health Alliance has launched its annual Her Heart Matters Wear Red Canada Campaign to raise awareness about women’s heart health leading up to Feb. 13, when women are asked to wear red and tune into a webinar to learn from heart health professionals, and women with lived experience.
“Women don’t realize that heart disease is the number one killer of women worldwide,” said Jennifer Monaghan, patient advocate.
“When asked about their greatest health issue most women would say breast cancer but the reality is, it kills three times as many women as breast cancer does.”
According to the Canadian Women’s Heart Health Alliance, heart attack symptoms are not recognized in over 50 per cent of women, and women are more likely to have many other symptoms such as abnormal excessive sweating, shortness of breath and dizziness along with chest pain when having a heart attack.
Not only that, the causes of heart disease can be different for men than women. However, the campaign highlights that heart disease is preventable through healthy lifestyles and preventative treatments.
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“I myself have heart disease and I’ve had it for 10 years. I had no traditional risk factors for it but I had a stroke and when I had the stroke my doctors were looking into why and they discovered I had cardiomyopathy, which is a disease of my heart muscle, making it harder for my heart to pump blood to the rest of my body,” said Monaghan.
“I knew I had heart disease but at the same time it was hard for me to believe that I had anything wrong with me.”
By sharing her story, Monaghan is hoping that more women learn about their heart health.
To learn more about how to improve your heart health and about the Her Heart Matters Wear Red Canada Campaign visit their website www.cwhhc.ottawaheart.ca
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