Monday morning heart attacks – and other weird facts about women’s heart disease

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 17 Comments
Many heart attacks hit around our birthdays
Heart attacks are more likely to happen around our birthdays

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥ @HeartSisters

Here are 20 surprises I’ve picked up along the way while researching other surprising things about women’s heart disease:

1.  The most common day of the week for a heart attack to occur is Monday.

2.  Saturday ranks second.

3.  Most heart attacks hit during the early morning hours between 4-10 a.m. when blood platelets are stickier and increased adrenaline released from the adrenal glands can trigger rupture of plaques in coronary arteries. Heart attacks occurring between 6 a.m. and noon were associated with the most damage, in a study reported in the cardiology journal Heart.

4.  Heart attacks are 27%  more likely to occur around your birthday, especially in women with high blood pressure (Yikes! I had my first heart attack symptoms at 6:30 a.m. on a Monday morning while out delivering thank you cards to friends who had attended my Saturday evening birthday party!)   click here to continue reading

Women fatally unaware of heart attack symptoms

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 6 Comments

woman dixie thinking

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥  @HeartSisters

“Women spend more time thinking about their weight than they do about their hearts.”

Honey, if you experience a sudden upset stomach, crushing fatigue and shortness of breath, put down your phone. You could be having a heart attack.

Barely one third of Canadian women are aware that pain in the chest, arm, neck, jaw or back are not always the most common symptoms for a woman suffering a heart attack – the #1 killer of women in Canada.

In fact, 43% of women report unusual fatigue, shortness of breath, nausea and vomiting during a cardiac event – but NOT chest pain.(1)

A 2008 Canadian study of women over 40 called the LIPSTICK Survey reported that women spend more time thinking about their weight than they do about their hearts. Only 10% of women surveyed knew their personal LDL (‘bad’) cholesterol levels, versus the 64% of women who know how much they weighed in high school.  Continue reading “Women fatally unaware of heart attack symptoms” →

“You look great!” – and other things you should never say to heart patients

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 23 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥  @HeartSisters

“Wow!  You look great!  You look just the same!”

In the early days, that was a fairly typical greeting from those who had not seen me for a while.  While some might assume that this is a thoughtful and flattering comment to offer a freshly-diagnosed heart attack survivor, many times it didn’t feel that way.

Surprised? Many people, especially in the early days, weeks and months while still reeling emotionally and physically from their life-altering cardiac train wreck, tell me that they often feel like replying to such greetings with:

“I am NOT the same!”

Instead of  the well-meant but oddly niggling “You look great!” – what might be more helpful to the freshly-diagnosed heart patient?   click to continue reading

If the fat won’t kill you, the salt will…

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 5 Comments

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Dining out used to be such a big deal.  When I was a little girl growing up in St. Catharines, a rare family outing to our neighbourhood Chinese noodle house was as exciting as life could possibly get.

Today, Canadians spend over 30% of our food budget at restaurants (compared to 42% for our American friends!)   The average household goes out for a meal, snack or beverage an average of 11 times every two weeks. Of all the money spent on food in Canada, 40% is spent in some of our 62,000+ food service outlets. But with the growing popularity of drive-thru, take-out and delivery services, 60% of restaurant-prepared items are now consumed elsewhere. And on any given day, 30% of kids living in North America visit a fast food restaurant.

That’s a whole lot of fast food, and a whole lot of salt.   Continue reading “If the fat won’t kill you, the salt will…” →