Just the Grim Facts, Ma'am

• Published in: The New York times
• Main Author: Camacho, Margarita T
• Format: Newspaper Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, N.Y New York Times Company 27.07.2003
• Edition: Late Edition (East Coast)
• ISSN: 0362-4331

Add to that disturbing fact the reality that so many Long Island women are very much aware of breast cancer risks yet do not appreciate that they are facing murderous statistics regarding their hearts. The most telling data is the fact that 1 in 2 women will die of heart disease or stroke, compared with 1 in 28 women who will die of breast cancer. Each year, heart disease kills more women than men. In addition, 38 percent of women who have heart attacks die within 1 year compared with 25 percent of men. Some progressive health care institutions, like the North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System, are being proactive in presenting the health facts to individual women and to various networking groups that serve women whether at home or at work. But far more needs to be done, and we certainly need to go beyond listing heart-threatening ingredients on the side of snack cookies. Our fascination and focus on the contents seems to serve as little more than a distraction to the proactive health, nutrition and exercise regimen we should all be following.