This World Heart Day is an ideal opportunity to raise awareness of heart-related diseases, illnesses, and ways to protect the heart. This is a conversation that heavily impacts Black women nationally. Cardiovascular diseases such as heart attack, stroke, and heart failure, all disproportionately affect Black women.

Read on to find out how Black women can improve and better manage their heart health.

Black Women’s Heart Health

Everyone deserves proper education about heart health, but Black women especially are at high risk of suffering from heart-related diseases. According to Go Red For Women, Heart Disease is the chief cause of death among women. Strokes are disproportionately affecting Black women. A combination of high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol levels, and/or strong family history of heart-related illness lead to sometimes fatal consequences for Black women.

Black women’s heart health is in need of some urgent attention since this is the group who have significantly higher rates of cardiovascular disease than non-Hispanic whites. Other statistics that support the case for better health health among Black women include the fact that ‘among Black women ages 20 and older, nearly 59 percent have cardiovascular disease. Additionally, it seems that despite the major disparity, there is little awareness of signs and symptoms that lead to heart diseases. According to the data, only 39percent of Black women are aware that chest pain can be a sign of a heart attack and only 33 percent recognize that pain spreading to the shoulder, neck, or arms is another potential heart attack sign.

We spoke with Dr. Monisola Adanijo, M.D., a cardiologist and heart health coach, to increase awareness of improved heart health for Black women.

What a doctor wants you to know about protecting your heart health as a Black woman

Dr Adanijo: Yes, there are a few reasons as to why this may be.

The first thing to note is that globally, Black women generally have lower incomes, lower educational levels, poor insurance coverage, and limited access to quality healthcare, which may affect their health-seeking behaviors and may make them not visit healthcare facilities for preventive or symptomatic care. 

Secondly, lifestyle factors such as poor diet, physical inactivity, and obesity contribute to heart-related issues in Black women since many Black women find it difficult to adopt and maintain healthy behaviors due to their cultural backgrounds, etc. For example, obesity in many African societies is seen as a sign of “prosperity”. 

Thirdly, clinical trials and medical research do not adequately include diverse populations, including Black women, which can result in less accurate understanding of how certain treatments and interventions affect us.

A final thing to consider is that some genetic variations are more common in specific racial and ethnic groups and can influence the risk of certain heart conditions.

21N: What are some symptoms to pay attention to regarding heart illnesses?

Dr. Adanijo: Some symptoms of heart-related illnesses in Black women may include:

  1. Feeling tired/dizzy/lightheaded
  2. Nausea/Indigestion
  3. Palpitations (awareness of heartbeat)
  4. Chest pain/jaw/shoulder/arm pain
  5. Difficulty in breathing
  6. Leg swelling

21N: What are some triggers or causes of poor heart health?

Dr. Adanijo: There are several worth mentioning. Some causes of poor heart health in Black women would include: positive family history of heart disease; poorly managed heart disease risk factors like Hypertension, Diabetes, and high cholesterol; environmental factors such as poor sleep, chronic stress, lack of exercise, a sedentary lifestyle; dietary factors: consumption of a diet high in salt, sugar, and fat, and low in fruits and vegetables; social factors including excessive alcohol consumption, cigarette smoking, use of illicit drugs.

21N: What are some changes to implement for better heart health?

Dr. Adanijo: There are several lifestyle changes to implement for better health including:

  1. Incorporating exercise into our daily activities by making efforts to “move around” as much as possible and avoiding prolonged sitting. At least 30 minutes of structured exercise daily, as well as avoiding sitting for more than 2 hours at a stretch, have been shown to significantly reduce the risk of heart disease. 
  2. Eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables and reducing consumption of sugar, high fat, high salt content processed and packaged foods.
  3. Embracing regular health checkups for the early detection and treatment of heart disease risk factors.
  4. Maintaining a healthy weight. A body mass index (BMI) of 18.5-24.9 is considered healthy. This is a ratio of an individual’s weight versus their height. BMI above 30 is classified as “Obesity”
  5. Stop cigarette smoking as well as the use of other illicit drugs (including marijuana).
  6. Reduction in alcohol consumption to one drink per day maximum. Alcohol has been shown to be directly toxic to heart tissue.
  7. Getting at least 7 hours of quality sleep every night.
  8. Stress reduction
  9. Keeping a healthy mental state
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