GoRedForWomen.org
2011 Heart Disease Prevention Guidelines for Women:
Living Guidelines for Women:
What You Need To Know
What is Your Risk Level for Heart Disease?
HIGH RISK
You have one or more of the following:
- Existing coronary heart disease (heart attack, bypass surgery, heart stents)
- Stroke or carotid artery disease (narrowed or blocked arteries that take blood to your brain)
- Blocked arteries in your legs
- Abdominal aortic aneurysm (weakness in the artery in your abdomen)
- Chronic kidney disease
- Diabetes
Your personal risk factors predict a high risk of heart and vascular disease in the next 10 years
AT RISK
One or more major risk factors:
- Cigarette smoking
- Poor diet
- Lack of regular physical activity or can’t complete a treadmill exercise test
- Overweight (Body Mass Index [BMI] 25-29.9) or Obesity (BMI higher than 30)
- Family history of heart or vascular disease
- Blood pressure higher than 120/80
- Abnormal cholesterol levels
- Heart or other vascular diseases
- Lupus or rheumatoid arthritis
- Metabolic syndrome (see risk factors below)
- Pregnancy complications including the development of high blood pressure or diabetes, delivering a pre-term infant
IDEAL CARDIOVASCULAR HEALTH
A healthy lifestyle with all of the following:
- Blood pressure less than 120/80 mm Hg and not on medicine for blood pressure
- Total cholesterol less than 200 mg/dL and not on medicine for cholesterol
- Fasting blood glucose less than 100 mg/ dL and not on medicine for blood sugar
- Body mass index less than 25 kg/m2
- Never smoked or quit over one year
Lifestyle Guidelines for ALL
Women
Eat Heart Healthy
- Eat a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, whole-grain and high-fiber foods.
- Eat fish at least twice a week, preferably oily fish, or talk to your healthcare provider about taking omega-3 fatty acid (fish oil) supplements.
- Do your best to eat less salt (sodium). Try to limit your sodium to 1500 mg a day.
- Avoid trans-fatty acids. No transfats is the goal.
- Eat very little saturated fat (such as fat from meat, cheese and butter): less than 7 percent of your total calories a day.
- Eat less than 150 mg of cholesterol a day.
- Drink no more than one alcoholic drink a day. No alcohol is best!
Stop Smoking Cigarettes
Get counseling, nicotine replacement or drug therapy (if needed) and find a group program to help you stop smoking.
Exercise and Weight Loss
Get 150 minutes of moderate intensity exercise a week, such as brisk walking. If you’re trying to lose weight, then you will need 60 to 90 minutes a day.
Women with Recent Heart Problems
Join a cardiac rehabilitation or physician-guided exercise program following heart attack, stroke or other cardiac conditions.