‘Wear Red Day’ Highlights Women’s Heart Health

‘National Wear Red Day’ encourages citizens to show their support for women’s heart health in the fight against heart disease.

Debbie Baker is the Director of Cookeville Regional Medical’s Cardio Pulmonary Rehab Center. She said women may typically experience different symptoms of heart complications than men.

“The main symptoms could be pressure or heaviness, like someone sitting on your chest, shortness of breath, arm or jaw pain, and also fatigue,” Baker said. “A lot of times, for women, one of the biggest reasons they’ll go to the doctor initially would be prolonged fatigue that they cannot understand why they have.”

Baker said several factors can lead to heart disease or other complications for both men and women.

“For women, it can be different things. It can be hormonal changes. For men and women both, it’s genetic factors in their families or high blood pressure that goes untreated,” Baker said. “Men and women who especially have diabetes are four to six times more likely to develop heart disease, especially if their blood sugars are not maintained or in good control.”

Baker encourages women to take time for themselves to keep their hearts healthy as inactivity and not focusing on their own needs can lead to issues later on.

“Women a lot of times think they’re being very active because they’re doing a lot for everyone else,” Baker said, “but having a true physical activity every day of at least 30 minutes focused on them and getting their heart rate up is usually not seen as often, because women are so busy taking care of everyone else that sometimes it’s the last thing we think about is ourselves. That can get us into some trouble.”

Baker advises women who may be experiencing minor complications to see their doctor anyway as minor things could potentially be warning signs for larger complications.

Cookeville Regional Medical Center has raised nearly $10,000 to $15,000 per year through annual events to assist patients needing care for heart-related issues.

Heart disease ranks as one of the leading causes of death among all Americans, affecting at least one in five people at least 45 years old or older based on statistics from the Center for Disease Control.

‘National Wear Red Day’ occurs the first Friday of every February and was initiated by the American Heart Association.