Heart Stopping Statistics: Heart Disease Among African American and Hispanic Women

Many women assume that heart disease affects only older women, but that is not true according to the American Heart Association’s “Go Red for Women Campaign.” Heart disease can effect women of all ages and ethnic backgrounds, and often with more lethal results. One in 3 women die of heart attacks. That’s one woman every minute. Unfortunately many women ignore the signs of a heart attack or stroke.

Here are some heart stopping statistics:

  • Women age 45 and younger are more likely than men to die within a year of their first heart attack.
  • Only 65 percent of women said the first thing they would do if they thought they were having a heart attack was to call 9-1-1
  • Men are 2 to 3 times more likely than women to receive an implantable defibrillator for the prevention of sudden cardiac death.

Hispanic and African American women have an even higher risk according to these American Heart Association  statistics:

Photo" American Heart Association website
Photo: American Heart Association website

 Hispanic women

  • Hispanic women are likely to develop heart disease 10 years earlier than Caucasian women.
  • Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death for Hispanic women, killing nearly 21,000 annually.
  • Only 34% of Hispanic women know that heart disease is their greatest health risk.
  • Hispanic women are least likely to have a usual source of health medical care and only 1 in 8 say that their doctor has ever discussed their risk for heart disease.
Photo: American Heart Association Website
Photo: American Heart Association Website

African American women

  • Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death for African-American women, killing over 48,000 annually.
  • Only 36% of African American women  know that heart disease is their greatest health risk.
  • Of African-American women ages 20 and older, 48.3% have cardiovascular disease. Yet, only 14% believe that cardiovascular disease is their greatest health problem.
  • Only about 50% of African-American women are aware of the signs and symptoms of a heart attack.

Heart disease is the #1 killer of women and stroke the #4 killer. 80% of heart disease can be managed or reduce through education and healthy lifestyle changes.  Here are seven steps recommended by the American Heart Association:

Monday, February 15, 4pm EST, on Fearless Fabulous You! ion W4WN Cardiologist Jennifer Haythe, M.D., Columbia University Medical Center, New York City, will discuss heart disease among women of all ages and what you can do to understand and reduce your risk.

Heart Specialist Dr. Jennifer Haythe, Columbia University Medical Center
Heart Specialist Dr. Jennifer Haythe, Columbia University Medical Center

Join host Melanie Young and email your questions to melanie@melanieyoung.com

Inspiring Women around the World. Follow Melanie on Twitter@mightymelanie and Facebook/FearlessFabulousMelanie. Website and blog: www.melanieyoung.com
Inspiring Women around the World. Follow Melanie on Twitter@mightymelanie and Facebook/FearlessFabulousMelanie. Website and blog www.melanieyoung.com

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