By : dr Maree Harris Ph.D
When we look at the information now available about women and heart disease we have to ask if climbing the career ladder is really worthwhile. Or is it more the way we do it?
Women and Heart Disease - The Facts.
Heart disease kills more women than men each year.
Heart disease is the number one killer of women, causing more deaths than all kinds of cancer combined (including breast cancer).
One third of all deaths among women each year are due to heart disease
1 in 10 women aged 45-64 lives with heart disease.
A very concerning fact revealed in an American Heart Association survey found that only 8% of primary care physicians were aware that more women than men die of heart disease. This suggests that they may not be the best people to pick up the risks for us.
This highlights the fact that, as women, we have to be able to tune into ourselves and learn to pick up the signs that things are not well with us. We need to become very good at listening to our body. Once our heart is damaged it can only be patched up, not repaired, and then we have to live on the edge, not knowing when it may stop!
Heart disease may result from a congenital abnormality. We may also be predisposed to it by family history.
It is stress, however, that I want to talk about here as a precipitator of heart disease - what it does to our blood pressure, how it causes us to eat and drink the wrong thing in the wrong way, raising our cholesterol and weight.
Pamela Serure's story was told in an issue of PINK magazine. She was a successful career woman in the fashion industry, who had a hectic but "exhilarating" working life, who then had a heart attack at age 47. The alarming thing was how long it took for someone to diagnose it after many different things were suggested. What was even more concerning was that the EKG and stress test she had were normal, but before she left the doctor's room she had more pain and asked for more tests which showed 98% blockage to an artery. The result - bypass surgery. She has now changed her lifestyle, but the fact that she now lives with heart disease will not change.
Listen To And Get To Know Our Bodies.
So what can we as professional women do for ourselves. What do we need to listen for in our bodies? What do we need to know about the impact of stress on our lives?
* The first thing we have to do it STOP, LOOK and LISTEN. If we do not feel quite right and it lasts for more than a couple of weeks, we need to take that feeling seriously, even if we cannot quite identify what it is.
* We need to take some quiet time and breathe slowly and tune into our bodies and try and connect with that feeling. Is it tightness, pain, pressure, discomfort? How would we describe it? Where exactly are we feeling it in our body?
* When do we feel it - morning, night, standing, sitting or lying down, after we have eaten, or after we have eaten or drunk something in particular, at the computer or meetings or after we have been with a particular person? Yes, some people can be great stressors!
This way we can get to know our bodies and what they are trying to say to us. We have to stop, however, to do this. Whatever we do, we must not ignore it.
Empowering Ourselves To Take Action
We do not necessarily have to rush straight off to a doctor. We can take action ourselves. We can make changes in our lives before it is too late.
We can slow down and pace ourselves better. If we never take breaks at work, we can begin to take them. We can get away from our desk, even go outside.
If we eat lunch on the run, we can make a decision to have a lunch break. We can get out of the office which shouts "pressure and intensity" at us and unwind, stretch and relax.
If we usually grab takeaways, high fat and high sugar foods, we can make a change to fresh food as natural and energy inducing as possible.
We can drink plenty of water.
Getting plenty of sleep will make a difference. Maybe the traditional 8 hours is not enough at this time.
We can exercise because it is the greatest stress breaker.
As part of our relaxation, we can make a commitment to do something that puts us in touch with our inner spirit - take up watercolour painting, learn a musical instrument, do a creative writing course, spend more time in the garden, visit art galleries or attend concerts, listen to music, have a regular massage, get a facial.
Women in the 45+ age bracket often have many additional pressures on them outside of their high-powered professional jobs.
* They often have adolescent children testing the waters of life and testing their parents at the same time.
* They can also have ageing parents who require a great deal of their time and attention.
* They may also be coping with a body that is challenging them with menopause.
* They frequently are the primary emotional carer in the family, responsible for everyone's well-being.
* They leave work every day to face a second shift at home, doing housework and a whole range of activities that too often their partners do not share equally with them.
All of this adds to their stress.
If this is you, you need to have some important conversations with your partner and children, your brothers and sisters and your boss or manager at work.
Seeking Professional Help - A Strength Not A Weakness.
Seeing a medical practitioner and having some tests done can often give you great peace of mind. You will learn a lot about our symptoms and be able to communicate much more clearly what is happening for us.
A coach can help you achieve good, healthy work-life balance in your professional life.
It may, however, be a mentor who could be much more helpful, another professional woman who has already walked the path you are now on and who could help you find the balance. You do not have to reinvent the wheel. You can learn from other's experience.
It might be that you need to join a gym, get a personal trainer or find a friend who will walk with you on a regular basis - to provide a discipline for your exercise.
Even learning meditation or yoga may be the answer for you.
Whatever, let's keep our hearts beating healthily!
Job Vacancy , Indonesia Job , Job Indonesia
When we look at the information now available about women and heart disease we have to ask if climbing the career ladder is really worthwhile. Or is it more the way we do it?
Women and Heart Disease - The Facts.
Heart disease kills more women than men each year.
Heart disease is the number one killer of women, causing more deaths than all kinds of cancer combined (including breast cancer).
One third of all deaths among women each year are due to heart disease
1 in 10 women aged 45-64 lives with heart disease.
A very concerning fact revealed in an American Heart Association survey found that only 8% of primary care physicians were aware that more women than men die of heart disease. This suggests that they may not be the best people to pick up the risks for us.
This highlights the fact that, as women, we have to be able to tune into ourselves and learn to pick up the signs that things are not well with us. We need to become very good at listening to our body. Once our heart is damaged it can only be patched up, not repaired, and then we have to live on the edge, not knowing when it may stop!
Heart disease may result from a congenital abnormality. We may also be predisposed to it by family history.
It is stress, however, that I want to talk about here as a precipitator of heart disease - what it does to our blood pressure, how it causes us to eat and drink the wrong thing in the wrong way, raising our cholesterol and weight.
Pamela Serure's story was told in an issue of PINK magazine. She was a successful career woman in the fashion industry, who had a hectic but "exhilarating" working life, who then had a heart attack at age 47. The alarming thing was how long it took for someone to diagnose it after many different things were suggested. What was even more concerning was that the EKG and stress test she had were normal, but before she left the doctor's room she had more pain and asked for more tests which showed 98% blockage to an artery. The result - bypass surgery. She has now changed her lifestyle, but the fact that she now lives with heart disease will not change.
Listen To And Get To Know Our Bodies.
So what can we as professional women do for ourselves. What do we need to listen for in our bodies? What do we need to know about the impact of stress on our lives?
* The first thing we have to do it STOP, LOOK and LISTEN. If we do not feel quite right and it lasts for more than a couple of weeks, we need to take that feeling seriously, even if we cannot quite identify what it is.
* We need to take some quiet time and breathe slowly and tune into our bodies and try and connect with that feeling. Is it tightness, pain, pressure, discomfort? How would we describe it? Where exactly are we feeling it in our body?
* When do we feel it - morning, night, standing, sitting or lying down, after we have eaten, or after we have eaten or drunk something in particular, at the computer or meetings or after we have been with a particular person? Yes, some people can be great stressors!
This way we can get to know our bodies and what they are trying to say to us. We have to stop, however, to do this. Whatever we do, we must not ignore it.
Empowering Ourselves To Take Action
We do not necessarily have to rush straight off to a doctor. We can take action ourselves. We can make changes in our lives before it is too late.
We can slow down and pace ourselves better. If we never take breaks at work, we can begin to take them. We can get away from our desk, even go outside.
If we eat lunch on the run, we can make a decision to have a lunch break. We can get out of the office which shouts "pressure and intensity" at us and unwind, stretch and relax.
If we usually grab takeaways, high fat and high sugar foods, we can make a change to fresh food as natural and energy inducing as possible.
We can drink plenty of water.
Getting plenty of sleep will make a difference. Maybe the traditional 8 hours is not enough at this time.
We can exercise because it is the greatest stress breaker.
As part of our relaxation, we can make a commitment to do something that puts us in touch with our inner spirit - take up watercolour painting, learn a musical instrument, do a creative writing course, spend more time in the garden, visit art galleries or attend concerts, listen to music, have a regular massage, get a facial.
Women in the 45+ age bracket often have many additional pressures on them outside of their high-powered professional jobs.
* They often have adolescent children testing the waters of life and testing their parents at the same time.
* They can also have ageing parents who require a great deal of their time and attention.
* They may also be coping with a body that is challenging them with menopause.
* They frequently are the primary emotional carer in the family, responsible for everyone's well-being.
* They leave work every day to face a second shift at home, doing housework and a whole range of activities that too often their partners do not share equally with them.
All of this adds to their stress.
If this is you, you need to have some important conversations with your partner and children, your brothers and sisters and your boss or manager at work.
Seeking Professional Help - A Strength Not A Weakness.
Seeing a medical practitioner and having some tests done can often give you great peace of mind. You will learn a lot about our symptoms and be able to communicate much more clearly what is happening for us.
A coach can help you achieve good, healthy work-life balance in your professional life.
It may, however, be a mentor who could be much more helpful, another professional woman who has already walked the path you are now on and who could help you find the balance. You do not have to reinvent the wheel. You can learn from other's experience.
It might be that you need to join a gym, get a personal trainer or find a friend who will walk with you on a regular basis - to provide a discipline for your exercise.
Even learning meditation or yoga may be the answer for you.
Whatever, let's keep our hearts beating healthily!
Job Vacancy , Indonesia Job , Job Indonesia
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