Quantcast
Channel: health – Fox News South Texas
Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 788

Health Matters: National Wear Red Day

$
0
0

HEALTH thumbnail


In honor of American Heart Month and National Wear Red Day, the American Heart Association has issued its first guidelines for preventing strokes for women. Stroke is the third leading cause of death for women and the fifth leading cause of death for men, but the stroke symptoms differ between sexes. For women, stroke risk can increase if you are pregnant or have preeclampsia, which is a term for developing high blood pressure during pregnancy. Doctors suggest getting screened for high blood pressure before taking birth control pills---studies show it may double your stroke risk, especially if you smoke. The new guidelines also suggest that hormone replacement therapy should no longer be used to prevent stroke in postmenopausal women. Female smokers that have frequent migraines with aura double their stroke risk. The American Heart Association also suggest women 75 years of age and older be screened for atrial fibrillation---an irregular heartbeat condition---because it can quadruple your risk of having a stroke.

Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 788

Trending Articles