Women have shattered another “glass ceiling” when it comes to gaining parity with opposite-sex counterparts in business, but this equal right isn”™t a benefit: heart disease, once considered a “man”™s disease,” is now the number one killer of women.
The American Heart Association”™s Go Red for Women campaign has been striving to raise awareness of that salient fact, but to date, it reports only 55 percent of females consider heart disease a risk factor. Working women, however, are taking the threat more seriously, as evidenced by their attendance at a Feb. 25 American Heart Association of Dutchess and Ulster”™s Go Red for Women luncheon at the Grandview in Poughkeepsie.
Nearly 400 women, many wearing a signature red dress or jacket, spent the morning learning that women”™s symptoms of heart disease are often undetected by doctors and attributed to perimenopause.
Pamela Peeke, whose books and television appearances, as well as her commitment to women”™s cardiovascular health, was keynote speaker for the event, focused on how today”™s women differ from the world their mothers and grandmothers grew up in. Today”™s labor market is 46 percent female, many with high-powered jobs ”“ and even if they have not reached equality in pay, they have reached it in equality of stress and demand.
The doctor pointed to today”™s lifestyle, “which has become a way of life for women who are telecommuting ”“ you need to find reasons to do more because of it. One hundred years ago, women didn”™t need Gold”™s Gym to stay in shape. But this brand new disease ”“ ”˜sedentary sitting”™ ”“is creating muscles that stop moving.”
Many women, as well as men, have discovered a new way to keep fit and keep busy: “They are attaching their computers to treadmills,” she said, “staying on the move while they are working, keeping their metabolism and clearing lipids effectively from their body.”
While that may not work in the traditional office, Peeke encouraged women to get up and walk ”“ even dance ”“ for five minutes every hour. “Men who spend 24 hours a week in front of a screen increase their chance of heart disease by 68 percent…it is no different for women. Dancing increases serotonin, dopamine and endorphins,” she said.
“We need to redefine ”˜normal”™ ”“ as you age, everything goes south,” said Peeke, eliciting laughs from her audience. “To stay positive, wake up each morning and make a list of the things you are grateful for ”“ squelch the ”˜BMW”™ (bitch, moan and whine) desire and it will help put you in a better frame of mind.”
A healthy diet, a committed desire to keep work life and personal life more balanced and staying active are the three best defenses women have against their growing tendency toward developing cardiac disease, Peeke said.
She cited research that found when people stay “plugged into their community by volunteering and networking, they live longer and do better physically and mentally”“ so stay alert and vertical and when things get tough, adapt and adjust.”
Eighty-three percent of cardiac events in women can be prevented by simple lifestyle changes, according to Janet Ready, senior vice president and chief operating officer for Vassar Brothers Medical Center and chairwoman for the Dutchess Ulster Go Red for Women luncheon.
