Know your risks, know your numbers

Women face six major risks factors for heart disease and stroke:

 Tobacco use and exposure
 Obesity or overweight
 Physical inactivity
 High blood pressure
 High blood cholesterol
 Diabetes

What’s your risk of a heart attack or stroke?

An excellent way to find out is to know your numbers – specifically those associated with fat (both abdominal and as a proportion of height and weight), cholesterol and blood pressure. Too much fat, especially around your abdomen or waist area, increases your risk for heart disease and stroke. So do high blood cholesterol and high blood pressure.

To know your numbers, try out the interactive calculators on the right column. This one-minute quiz can help you as well to indentify your personal risk factors.

Don’t forget that you can do something about most of the risks factors: they can respond to changes in diet and physical activity, and medication can also help. Discover how you can take charge of your heart health and protect your heart.