Today is National Go Red Day. The most important part of this day is to raise awareness of heart disease in women, the number killer of women in America. And you're never too young to get heart healthy.
Sheila Dutton was rushed to the hospital after passing out. She'd been feeling sick to her stomach and disoriented.
"I knew something was wrong," she said.
The doctors checked her out and assumed it was a panic attack. A day later, she had a massive heart attack at age 32.
"It was pretty scary because I just was like, how could this happen? I'm healthy, I eat right, I exercise, you know? Every emotion was running through my body," said Dutton, heart attack survivor.
Even though Dutton isn't the typical cardiac patient, she would suffer two more heart attacks within two weeks and need emergency double bypass surgery. Doctors gave her a 1% chance of survival.
"I knew that I had to keep fighting and I had to, you know, keep surviving. I wanted to beat the odds," said Dutton.
Odds are, a woman you know will die from heart disease. It's the number one killer of women.
"Our risk for heart disease starts early, perhaps even before the age of 20," said Dr. Nieca Goldberg, cardiologist, American Heart Association.
That's why doctors say it's crucial for young women to get into healthy habits early in life, like exercise.
"It lowers blood pressure, raises your good cholesterol, lowers your bad cholesterol and also reduces stress," said Dutton.
Quitting smoking and getting to a healthy weight also reduce your risk. Dutton didn't have the typical risk factors for a heart attack. In her case, doctors suspect a virus from a recent chest cold had settled into her heart. Experts say the best thing she did was trust her intuition that something was wrong.
Chest discomfort is the most obvious sign of a heart attack, but experts say other signs for women can be vague. Women may also break out into a cold sweat and experience shortness of breath, nausea and pain in the back or jaw.
