Women, heart disease and stroke

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From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

Heart disease and stroke are not just men’s diseases. Twice as many women as men between the ages of 45 and 54 have strokes, and one in four women die of heart disease.

But at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Judy Hannan says this doesn’t have to be. She says both conditions are largely within people’s power to prevent.

[Judy Hannan speaks] ``In addition to eating right, not smoking, and exercising, you also should be checked regularly for high blood pressure, high cholesterol, as well as high blood sugar, which can be a sign of diabetes.’’

Hannan says eating right can help to control your blood pressure. And she says eating right includes controlling your sodium – mostly as salt, which we get mostly from processed and restaurant foods. Hannan suggests more fresh fruits and vegetables.

Learn more at hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: August, 06 2009

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