Go Red for Women
Women and Heart Disease: Not a matter of “if” but “when
Despite the common belief that women are “protected” from heart disease by their hormones, statistics show that cardiovascular disease is the No. 1 killer of women 20 years and older at a rate of one woman every minute. For those reasons, and some very personal ones, Denise Warren serves as a volunteer with the American Heart Association. Denise is Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Capella Healthcare.
“Heart disease kills 1 in 3 women,” she said. “I know this all too well — I lost my mother to heart disease in October of 2010. I lost my mother-in-law to heart disease in 2001. My step-mother had five-bypass surgery in September 2009. So for me, it is not a matter of if I have heart disease, but when I will have it.”
Since 1984, more women have died of heart disease than men. In fact, every year approximately 267,000 women die from heart attacks, according to the Women’s Heart Foundation. In fact, more women die of heart disease than the next four causes of death combined, including cancer.
“These statistics are totally unacceptable, and together, we can change the outlook for ourselves, our wives, our mothers, our sisters and our daughters.”
Denise’s work with the American Heart Association, as well as her own quest to live a heart-healthy life, is motivated by her daughter Madeleine.