Why women should pay closer attention to their heart

LOS ANGELES — When it comes to going for a walk, weather would be the last thing to stop Charnyce Perdue from taking a step outside.

“Rain or shine. As long as there’s no lightning, we’re good,” Perdue said.

Approximately 16 years ago, Perdue said she experienced shortness of breath and fatigue when she was out on a walk. She said she later found out her symptoms would lead to a heart failure diagnosis.

“Why can’t I catch my breath? What is going on? I’m 20 something years old, I should be able to bounce back and I had never even thought about my heart health. Who thinks about their heart health in their 20s? They are not thinking about that,” she said. “It was definitely a wake up call.”

Cardiovascular disease is the number one killer of women, accounting for one in three deaths and 50,000 deaths in Black women each year, according to the American Heart Association.

Dr. Columbus Batiste is the Regional Chief of Cardiology with Kaiser Permanente, where he said there’s been an increase in younger patients, those in their 30s and 40s, experiencing heart failure.

“Women may not present with crushing chest pain traveling to the neck and jaw, radiating down the arm and breaking out in sweat. Women may have a low back discomfort. They may have a little bit of nausea. They may have a little fatigue and a little shortness of breath,” Batiste said.

Now, he’s hoping more patients will take proactive steps to protect their heart health with dietary changes and exercise.

“On top of going to their providers and making sure they know their numbers, blood pressure, diabetes, cholesterol individually,” he said. “Take every moment to move more than you sit. You don’t have to ride a fancy bike or do a fancy rowing machine. Just simply walking is so beneficial.”

Since Perdue’s experience with heart failure and other health issues, she said she’s cleaned up her diet and made walks a priority.

“It really taught me it doesn’t matter how old you are,” she said. “These things can happen to you at any age, at any time.”