Loyola Medicine Wears Red to Kick Off American Heart Month 2018

MAYWOOD, IL – Loyola Medicine colleagues wore red on Friday, February 2, 2018 in recognition of American Heart Month and the American Heart Association's Go Red for Women campaign.

The Go Red for Women campaign takes place on the first Friday in February with the goal of raising awareness of heart disease in women.

Heart disease develops when a waxy substance called plaque builds up inside your coronary arteries. The buildup of plaque in your arteries causes a reduction in flow of oxygen-rich blood to your heart, leading to potential heart attack and damage to your heart.

According to the American Heart Association, cardiovascular diseases and stroke cause 1 in 3 women’s deaths each year, killing approximately one woman every 80 seconds. Ninety percent of women have one or more risk factors for heart disease or stroke.

Traditional heart disease risk factors such as high cholesterol, hypertension and obesity are present for women and men.

However, there are additional risk factors that are more specific to women, and may include:

• Stress
• Work-life balance
• Postmenopausal state
• Diabetes
• Emotional distress
• Lack of physical activity
• Metabolic syndrome
• Taking birth control pills
• Undergoing hormone replacement therapy

Heart disease can impact women of all ages. Recognizing and managing your risk factors is important to your long-term health and well being. Loyola Medicine’s cardiology and heart surgery program, ranked 18th in the country by U.S. News & World Report, will work with you to monitor your risk factors and develop a plan to help you maintain a healthy heart.