According to the American College of Cardiology, heart disease is the number one cause of death worldwide. And according to the National Institutes of Health, one in four women dies from heart disease in the United States each year. One out of four women…you’d think it would be breast cancer, right? But the predicted number of breast cancer deaths in the U.S. is only about 40,000 out of nearly 126 million women. And yet it seems like all we hear about is heart disease as it pertains to men. However, the American Heart Association says:
- Heart disease causes 1 in 3 women’s deaths each year, killing approximately one woman every minute.
- 90 percent of women have one or more risk factors for developing heart disease.
- Since 1984, more women than men have died each year from heart disease and the gap between men and women’s survival continues to widen.
- The symptoms of heart disease can be different in women vs. men, and are often misunderstood.
- While 1 in 31 American women dies from breast cancer each year, 1 in 3 dies of heart disease.
If you’re looking at this from a perspective of pure Western medicine, then you apt to jump to diet and maybe lifestyle (i.e., exercise or lack thereof) as the culprits. But if you’re willing to step outside the box a little and think in bigger terms, you may recognize the abnormally intense levels of stress under which women in American culture must survive. Furthermore, did you know that the heart is comprised of approximately specialized 40,000 neurons? While it’s not a separate “brain” per se, it is often referred to as the “heart-brain.” So, when you consider how high stress levels affect you emotionally, is it any wonder that the heart takes the biggest punch?
How to Prevent Heart Disease
You can find dozens of lists telling you how to prevent heart disease. In fact, the American Heart Association adds these basics:
- Don’t smoke
- Manage your blood sugar
- Get your blood pressure under control
- Lower your cholesterol
- Know your family history
- Stay active
- Lose weight
- Eat healthy
In addition to those, however, we really need to invest heavily in the way we deal with stress. Why? Because you usually can’t do a lot about the stressors in your life. But you can do something about the ways you handle those stressors. In case you’re confused, let me state it this way: you might not be in a position to change jobs right now, despite a difficult boss and combative co-workers. However, you can change the way you receive all that negativity. Again, you may be asking why that matters. Surely you have heard this saying: “perception is reality.”
Biology of Belief
One of my favorite explorations of this concept is from a molecular biologist named Bruce Lipton, PhD. His book The Biology of Belief delves a bit into the Human Genome Project wherein researchers discovered that they were very wrong about genetics being destiny. For example, they used to think that if heart disease ran in your family, then your genes were already determining that you too would have heart disease. But now they know that your genes can be triggered and also turned off. Lipton gives a fantastic overview in his documentary by the same name. He uses easy to understand language to explain the science of how belief and our thoughts has a literal and measurable affect on our health.
This has nothing to do with the so-called Law of Attraction or any related spiritual or New Age concepts. This is hardcore science that clearly shows the power we have over our health. For example, we all have the potential for cancer. But your cells are able to ward off everything from cancer cells and carcinogens to viruses and parasitic infections. When you are under stress, your cells are not as solid, so-to-speak, as they are when you’re operating within average healthy conditions. That means that your cells far more susceptible to being penetrated by foreign invaders. Thus, cancer works its way in.
Heart disease is no different. Think of it in these terms: recall that list above from the American Heart Association on ways to prevent heart disease. With almost everyone of those guidelines, if you don’t abide by them you are already subjecting your body to unnecessary stress. Then when you add in outside stressors, it only compounds the situation and heart disease can creep in without you even knowing it. So, adjusting the way you deal with stress can actually go a long way towards keeping you healthy. Exercise is a good way to mitigate stress, but more helpful are processes like yoga, tai chi, and meditation. There is no need to treat stress like an extra limb or something that needs to be managed. It’s all about pacing yourself and working with the body’s natural flow of energy.
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