Keep it Pumping!

Keep it pumping…your heart, that is.  Since 1963, the United States has used the month of February to observe American Heart Health Month.  This February educate yourself and those near and dear to you about living healthy lifestyles.

Decades of progress in the United States on cutting cholesterol, blood pressure and smoking are being stalled by rising obesity rates, and heart disease will kill around 400,000 Americans this year, experts said on Monday.

Indeed, these are all staggering statistics but, we have to power to change them dramatically.  We can change our undisciplined mindsets toward health.  Romans 12:2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. If we can trust God with our job search, marriages, children and finances we can surely trust the one who created these bodies to best teach us how to care for them.

One half of African American women will die from stroke or heart disease.  African American adults are less likely to be diagnosed with coronary heart disease, however they are more likely to die from heart disease. Although African American adults are 40% more likely to have high blood pressure, they are 10% less likely than their non-Hispanic White counterparts to have their blood pressure under control.

African American and Hispanic American/Latina women should be concerned about getting heart disease because they tend to have more risk factors than white women. These risk factors include obesity, lack of physical activity, high blood pressure, and diabetes. If you’re a woman of color, take steps to reduce your risk factors.

Take action to reduce heart disease risk:

1. Be physically active
2. Don’t smoke
3. Eat healthy
4. Maintain a normal weight
5. Know your numbers (blood pressure, cholesterol, and triglycerides)

Source: WomensHealth.gov: Feb. 2010

Stay tuned this month for more updates, tips, recipes and other resources that lead to a healthier, happier you!

Blessings…

We’re On Our Way!

Congratulations to everyone that has joined our group for the 50 Million Pound Challenge.  We have taken our first step toward getting our physical bodies into tip top condition.  If we are to be soldiers in God’s Army we need to get these bodies that we have leased (since we are not our own, having been purchased with a price) into shape.  We have kingdom business to attend to so lets get prepared.  I encourage each of you to take advantage of the free meal planner.  I will begin to log all of my meals and physical activity to measure my progress and I encourage you to do the same.  I look forward to hearing your success stories and testimonies of victory.

National Wear Red Day

Participate in National Wear Red Day on Friday, February 6:
Wear Red to Support Women and Heart Disease Awareness

Friday, February 6, 2009, is National Wear Red Day—a day when Americans nationwide will take women’s health to heart by wearing red to show their support for women’s heart disease awareness.  Although significant progress has been made in increasing awareness among women from 34 percent in 2000 to 57 percent in 2006—most women fail to make the connection between risk factors and their personal risk of developing heart disease.

National Wear Red Day is an annual event held on the first Friday in February.  On this day, women and men across the country will wear red to unite in the national movement to give women a personal and urgent wake-up call about their risk of heart disease.  Everyone can participate by showing off a favorite red dress, shirt, or tie, or by wearing the Red Dress Pin (available at www.hearttruth.gov).

Join this national effort by wearing red on February 6, and encourage your family, friends, and coworkers to do the same.

We at SISTERS OF THE FAITH believe, according to God’s Word, that we are all “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14).  We will treat our bodies with respect and take every necessary precaution to value the very gift of life.
By participating in National Wear Red Day, SISTERS OF THE FAITH, is joining The Heart Truth.  The Heart Truth is a national awareness campaign to alert women about their risk for heart disease and motivate them to take steps to lower their risk.  The centerpiece of the campaign is the Red Dress—the national symbol for women and heart disease awareness.  What’s a Red Dress got to do with it?  A simple Red Dress works as a visual red alert to get the message heard loud and clear:  ”Heart Disease Doesn’t Care What You Wear—It’s the #1 Killer of Women.”  Sponsored by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the campaign is reaching women with important heart health messages in community settings through a diverse network of national and grassroots partner organizations.

Please join in and help spread the word about women and heart disease.  For ideas and tools to help you participate in National Wear Red Day or to order a Red Dress Pin, visit www.hearttruth.gov.

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• Related Blogs on women’s health

Triple Negative Breast Cancer: Online Conference

Last week we began our focus on health issues faced by minority women. About 10-20%
of breast cancers -- more than one out of every 10 -- are found to be triple-negative.
Triple-negative breast cancer is not likely fueled by hormones or the HER2 protein,
and is not expected to respond to hormonal therapies or therapies that target HER2
receptors. If you have triple-negative breast cancer, you might be wondering what
treatment options you DO have. Do some chemotherapy combinations work better than
others? Should you ask your doctor about getting chemo before surgery?  What new
research is being done on triple-negative treatment?

BreastCancer.org will host an Ask-the-Expert online conference tonight on triple
negative breast cancer from 7:00-8:00 pm. Just go to the BreastCancer.org homepage
and click the "Join Conference" button.

Free Health Screenings

There are reportedly 47 million Americans without healthcare. A vast majority of them are women. Walmart has partnered with Speaking of Women’s Health to offer free health screenings and information about women’s health issues. Visit your local Walmart Supercenter on Saturday, May 3, 2008 from 11 a.m. – 4 p.m.

For more information visit http://speakingofwomenshealth.com/events