Family Health

In the United States, 1 in 4 women dies from heart disease and more than 1 in 3 women is living with some form of cardiovascular disease.

Among women, black women have the highest risk of dying early from heart disease and stroke.

Certain conditions increase a person’s chance of heart disease, including diabetes, high blood pressure, overweight/obesity and high LDL cholesterol.

The Good News
Almost 80 percent of heart disease is preventable. That means that there are simple steps you can take to lower your risk for heart disease.

• Eat a healthy diet. Incorporating nutritious foods like whole grains, fruits and vegetables into your diet is important for heart health.   
• Stay smoke-free. For help quitting smoking call 1-866-NY-QUITS or 1-855-DEJELO-YA (for Spanish speakers).
• Move more. Being physically active helps keep your heart healthy.
• Know your numbers. Since conditions like high blood pressure (hypertension) and high cholesterol are often silent, it is important to have your doctor check your numbers.
• Talk to your health care provider about ways that you can improve your health.

The ABCs of Heart Health
If you have any medical conditions, managing them appropriately is important. Learn the ABCs of heart health and use them in your daily life.

• Appropriate aspirin therapy for those who need it
• Blood pressure control
• Cholesterol management
• Smoking cessation

Know the Signs
Some women may experience symptoms of early heart disease, such as heavy sharp chest pain or pain in the upper abdomen. However, sometimes heart disease is silent and only gets diagnosed when a woman has certain signs, including:

• Heart Attack: Chest pain/discomfort, upper body discomfort shortness of breath
• Arrhythmia: Fluttery feelings in the chest
• Heart Failure: Shortness of breath, fatigue, swelling in the limbs
• Stroke: Sudden numbness or weakness, especially on one side of the body. Other symptoms include sudden confusion, difficulty seeing and loss of coordination.

 
Monitor Your Blood Pressure at Home
Having an electric blood pressure monitor at home to monitor your blood pressure daily is ideal. This will allow you to get the most accurate picture of your blood pressure over time as opposed to only occasional blood pressure readings in a medical office. The American Heart Association recommends an automatic, cuff-style, bicep (upper-arm) monitor.

Once you've purchased a monitor, bring it to your next medical appointment. Have your health care provider check to see that you are using it correctly and getting the same results as the equipment in the office. Plan to bring your monitor in once a year to make sure the readings are accurate.

The Westchester County Department of Health and the American Heart Association have partnered to bring you the following tools and materials to assist you with taking and keeping a record of your blood pressure readings at home:

• How to Take Your Blood Pressure (Español) WCDOH
• Blood Pressure Monitoring Log (Español) WCDOH
• Blood Pressure Categories Chart (Español) AHA

Resources

• Go Red for Women (AHA)
• Women and Heart Disease (CDC)
• Gender Matters: Heart Disease Risk in Women (Harvard Health)

Fact: According to the CDC, heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, causing about 1 in 4 deaths.

Fact: Heart disease is the leading cause of death for women.

In an effort to combat cardiovascular disease, the Westchester County Department of Health supports prevention through heart healthy lifestyle changes. The information in these pages are designed to help reduce the incidence of heart disease in Westchester County by promoting regular physical activity and healthy eating habits. Use these tools to develop healthy lifestyles for you and your family.

Food and fitness can offer health for a lifetime. Prevention works.

• Move More: If you think you have no time to exercise, think again. There are many opportunities to be more physically active throughout the day. Take the stairs instead of the elevator or park further away from your destination to get a quick walk in.
  
  
• Eating Healthy: Healthy food habits can help you reduce three risk factors for heart attack and stroke—high blood cholesterol, high blood pressure, and excess body weight.
  
  
• Know Your Numbers: Knowing your numbers is an important part of keeping your heart healthy. Ask your health care provider to check your blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar levels.

Monitor Your Blood Pressure at Home
Having an electric blood pressure monitor at home to monitor your blood pressure daily is ideal. This will allow you to get the most accurate picture of your blood pressure over time as opposed to only occasional blood pressure readings in a medical office. The American Heart Association recommends an automatic, cuff-style, bicep (upper-arm) monitor.

Once you've purchased a monitor, bring it to your next medical appointment. Have your health care provider check to see that you are using it correctly and getting the same results as the equipment in the office. Plan to bring your monitor in once a year to make sure the readings are accurate.

The Westchester County Department of Health and the American Heart Association have partnered to bring you the following tools and materials to assist you with taking and keeping a record of your blood pressure readings at home:

• How to Take Your Blood Pressure (Español) WCDOH
• Blood Pressure Monitoring Log (Español) WCDOH
• Blood Pressure Categories Chart (Español) AHA

Brochures

• Westchester County Cares: Hypertension (English, Spanish)
• Westchester County Cares: Diabetes (English, Spanish)

Resources

• Heart Disease (CDC)
• Physical Activity (CDC)
• Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention (NYSDOH)

Going abroad? You may need vaccinations. It’s a good idea to plan early, since some vaccines must be given in several doses at least a week or more before you travel. Travel shots are not usually covered by insurance. You can get up to date information on the health conditions and recommended vaccinations for each country by visiting the Centers For Disease Control (CDC) web site or by calling their Information line at 1(800) 232-4636.

The CDC divides travel vaccinations into three categories: routine, recommended, and required. The only vaccine classified as "required" by International Health Regulations is the yellow fever vaccination for travel to certain countries in sub-Saharan Africa and tropical South America. The CDC's yellow fever vaccination web page allows you to search for a clinic near you by using your zip code or choosing your state from the map.

Chlamydia is not a flower. This was an educational campaign slogan used to raise awareness of the most frequently reported infectious disease in the US. Not many years ago, chlamydia was not that well known. Now, with over 4,000,000 new infections each year, it is all-too-familiar among sexually active adolescents and young adults.

Untreated chlamydial infection is a leading cause of pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) in women and can lead to infertility. It can be transmitted from an infected mother to the infant during birth, resulting in neonatal eye infection or pneumonia. The cost for treatment of chlamydia and resulting complications in the US is estimated at over $2 billion per year.

What is it?
Chlamydial infection is a sexually transmitted infection caused by a bacterium, Chlamydia trachomatis.

Symptoms
Symptoms develop from 1 – 3 weeks after infection, and may include a milky discharge from the urethra, pain or swelling in the testicles (in men), cervical discharge or bleeding (in women), burning or itching on urination, or inflammation of the rectum.

70 - 90 percent of women and 40 - 50 percent of men do not have any noticeable symptoms. This is a major reason for the high rates of infection. Because it is often asymptomatic and the consequences of untreated infection are serious, sexually active adolescents and women under 24 should be routinely screened for chlamydial infection.

PID results when untreated infections in women such as chlamydia or gonorrhea spread to the uterus, fallopian tubes, and ovaries. PID is a serious health problem that can result in infertility, chronic pelvic pain, or tubal pregnancy (pregnancy outside the uterus). Symptoms of PID may include pain in the lower abdomen or back, fever, spotting or bleeding between menstrual periods, pain during sex, and increased vaginal discharge. Many women do not have symptoms when they have a chlamydial infection.

In men, untreated chlamydial infection can spread to the epididymis, the body structure where sperm is stored, causing pain and swelling. This infection, called epididymitis, can lead to infertility. These are serious infections and anyone with possible symptoms should seek treatment immediately.

Transmission
Chlamydia is transmitted through unprotected vaginal and anal sex with an infected partner.

Diagnosis
Only a health care provider can diagnose chlamydia. Laboratory tests for chlamydia are easily performed and involve the collection of fluid from the cervix, urethra, and/or rectum. Chlamydia can now also be diagnosed through a urine test, eliminating one barrier to testing for men—the urethral swab, and permits testing when a full examination may not otherwise be practical.

Treatment
Most chlamydial infection is effectively treated with antibiotics in a single dose or 7 day treatment.

PID and epididymitis are more complicated infections and may take longer to treat. People should abstain from sexual contact for 7 days after treatment is completed. Recent sexual contacts should be notified and treated; and, to avoid reinfection, there should be no sexual contact until all partners have completed treatment. Because chlamydia and gonorrhea infection frequently occur together, patients with gonorrhea are usually treated for chlamydia also.

Prevention
Abstinence from sexual activity is the surest way to avoid acquiring or transmitting chlamydia. The next surest way is to limit sexual contact to one uninfected partner who only has sex with you. For those choosing to be sexually active, condoms should be used correctly and consistently to minimize transmission. Avoid sexual contact if suspicious symptoms are present.

If you suspect that you have chlamydia, or any sexually transmitted disease, seek immediate care at a local STD clinic, hospital, or medical practitioner.

Before having sex, talk with your partner about chlamydia and other sexually transmitted diseases. Negotiate a risk reduction strategy with them that feels comfortable to both of you. If the STD status for you or your partner is unknown, go together to get screened at a local STD clinic, hospital, or medical practitioner.

If you have chlamydia, or any sexually transmitted disease, notify all sex partners so that they can also seek and obtain treatment.

Additional Risks
People with chlamydia are more susceptible to HIV infection than those without chlamydia. In addition, people who have concurrent infections of chlamydia and HIV appear more likely to transmit HIV to their sex partners than HIV infected people without chlamydia.

Fact sheet on Chlamydia from the Centers for Disease Control

Information courtesy of Seattle and King County Public Health
at (http://www.metrokc.gov/health/)