The Youthful Face Of Heart Disease
She Alert ! - Women and Heart Disease
Story as told by She Magazine
Jessica Rouse
The Youthful Face Of Heart Disease
If you think you ’ re too young for a heart attack , keep reading . By the time you ’ re introduced to the inspiration behind this article , the portrait in your mind ’ s eye of the female heart attack victim will have been altered . Since the average age for heart attack in women is 70 years , we tend to think of it as a problem only for older women . The words may conjure up a vision of rocking chairs , canes and support hose , perhaps in our efforts to distance our younger selves from the problem . No one ever imagines a young woman in her early twenties clutching her chest in pain , heading off to the nearest emergency room . But we would be foolish to paint the picture of heart attack with such obviously broad strokes .
According to the American Heart Association , cardiovascular diseases and stroke cause 1 in 3 women ’ s deaths each year , killing approximately one woman every 80 seconds . 90 % of women have one or more risk factors for heart disease , and fewer women than men survive their first heart attack . It is the # 1 cause of death in American women . An estimated 44 million women in the U . S . are affected by cardiovascular diseases .
Jessica Rouse is one of those women . And she is quite a young woman . She graduated from high school in 2012 , and on September 30 , 2016 she suffered a heart attack .
She thought it was just a bad case of heartburn , as she had not had any heart troubles up to that point . Then Jessica had s hortness of breath and a burning pain in her chest and back . The next thing she knew she was heading to the hospital , ultimately having two lifesaving stents placed .
142 FEBRUARY 2017 SHEMAGAZINE . COM