Heart Disease in Women

Since February is Heart Health Month, I’m sharing my heart-health journey with you, and I’m giving you some tips for a healthy heart. You may have seen this in the past, but I’ve updated it and it’s important enough to repeat it every now and then.

That was a scary time in my life. I thought I had indigestion. I popped antacids like it was 2020 and the antacid shelves were about to be empty. Walking from one side of our home to the other left me breathless. Retrieving clothes from the dryer sent pains in my chest. I’m very blessed to be here today, nineteen years after my first symptoms and the placement of a stent.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking that only older women need to think about or worry about heart disease. Anyone of any age who has a family history needs to know the risk factors. I knew that heart disease was common in my family, especially so on my Daddy’s side. But I had no clue so many of my mother’s relatives had heart disease, too. Double whammy.

IGNORANCE ISN’T BLISS

• If you don’t smoke, don’t start. If you are a smoker, quit.
• Get some kind of regular exercise.
• Maintain a healthy weight.
• Eat a healthy diet.
• Take your prescribed medications regularly.

How I wish I had listened to that surgeon and my GP. It’s quite possible I could have avoided the extent of my heart disease. Statics available today indicate I could have even reversed it. I will never know. Let me urge you to see your physician and discuss this important subject. Knowing is far better than being in the dark and having to deal with it on an emergency basis. Speaking from experience, prevention is a far better choice than what I had to endure.

Have you changed your lifestyle due to heart issues? Share with us what you have done and how you are now.

What does the Bible say about our hearts? Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of Bible has approximately five full pages of Scriptures with the word heart. Jesus told the scribe when asked which commandment is the most important, The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength’ (Mark 12:29-30 ESV).  Here is a favorite of mine. I sang this solo when I was younger. Daddy loved this one. Again, this is Jesus speaking, Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me (John 14:1 ESV). Look into the physical and spiritual state of your heart during this month.

Blessings, y’all!

The Blackwood Brothers made this their signature song back in 1953. I was a wee one back in those days. This has been one of my favorite gospel songs since I first heard it. It features two of my all-time favorites, James Blackwood and Larry Ford. If you recall, it was Mama Lessie, Larry’s mother-in-love, who prayed for and over my sister during Sis’s battle with breast cancer. How I love this family! I pray this blesses you.