We all have a great deal of control over modifying our environment and our habits and thereby reducing our risk for coronary artery disease. Not smoking, keeping weight at optimal levels, building regular exercise into a daily routine and avoiding whatever stress we can are all important. Yes, they do. In fact, heart disease is the most common cause of death in the United States. The second myth is that women are somehow immune, when in fact heart disease is the chief killer of women in the world.
Cardiovascular disease kills more women than all cancers combined.
Another dangerous myth is that young women can't get heart disease. Women who perceive that breast cancer is their chief enemy actually never assess their risk factors for cardiovascular disease. They persist in smoking when we know that's the single most important thing that they are doing to ensure that they will have severe and premature heart disease. They allow themselves to get heavy and expose themselves to a lot of stress with which they never really deal. It is generally accepted in the medical community that depression, the kind of emotional pain for which there seems to be no relief and a sense of hopelessness, are all predictive of early disease and death from coronary artery disease.