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Feb 5, 2010 11:13 pm US/Central
Women Reminded To 'Go Red' For Heart Health
MANSFIELD (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ―
Heart disease is the leading cause of death among women. One in three women die from it compared to one in 30 for breast cancer. That's why the national "Go Red" for women promotes awareness of heart disease.
One reason why more women die from the heart disease is because symptoms are more subtle in women. Wanda Lawson, a nurse at Methodist Mansfield Medical Center, knows that first hand.
She was working at the hospital one day, when suddenly she was the one who needed care. "I started feeling this pressure in my chest it was just like something heavy, like I was having bad indigestion," Lawson said.
Lawson wanted to take an antacid for it. Other nurses talked her into heading to the ER. "The next thing I knew, they were starting an IV in both arms. They were calling in a cardiologist," Lawson said.
Doctors told her, she was having a heart attack. Part of her heart was dying because an artery was blocked. Women know about checking for breast cancer. But more women actually die from cardiovascular disease. That one in three women who died from cardiovascular disease compared to one in 30 who die from breast cancer.
Sheila Ford is the Critical Care Director at the hospital. She said, "We are at a slightly lower risk than men until menopause then our risks are equal or greater."
Women need to watch for symptoms which are much more subtle than men's like shortness of breath, back pain, nausea or indigestion. Lawson said had she been at home, she would've ignored her symptom which cropped up two years ago to this exact day. She says she's thankful for the extra time she's had with her family.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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