You might not give your heart much thought on a day-to-day basis. Sure, it’s just the hardest-working muscle in your body that pumps 2,000 gallons of blood a day to keep you alive...but you’ve got stuff going on!
Yet when it comes to important things in life, the health of your heart ranks up there. And you might be surprised to know that heart disease—an umbrella term for cardiovascular conditions that increase your risk for a heart attack or stroke—is a thing that affects a ton of younger women, says Svati Shah, MD, an American Heart Association (AHA) Go Red for Women volunteer. So it really is worth brushing up on what you need to do to keep it beating uninterrupted.
This quick quiz is a great place to start. Take a few minutes to test your heart-health knowledge, and use your findings to figure out how you might be able to do a little more to protect your ticker. It’s worth it!
Answer: Heart disease
Heart disease is often framed as a men’s health problem. But it’s actually an everyone problem. “We’ve all seen the movie scenes where a man gasps, clutches his chest, and falls to the ground,” says Dr. Shah. “In reality, a heart-attack victim could easily be a woman.”
In fact, more than 60 million women in the U.S. are living with the condition, including many in their 20s, 30s, and 40s. Even scarier? Cardiovascular disease claims the life of one in three women every year in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
So if heart health isn’t on your radar, you should absolutely bring it up at your next doctor’s visit. Together you and your doc can talk about your individual risk factors and put together a plan to keep your heart healthy for the long haul.
Answer: Chest pain
The most common heart-attack symptoms in women are actually the same as those in men: Uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness, or pain in the center of the chest that lasts for more than a few minutes, or that goes away and comes back.
But chest pain isn’t the only symptom, and women are more likely than men to have multiple warning signs that might not scream “HEART ATTACK!” Indigestion, nausea, vomiting, back pain, arm pain, or even just feeling really, really exhausted can all be signs that something serious is wrong with your heart.
“Women are more likely to report that something ‘felt off’ before they had a heart attack, although they could not pinpoint why,” says Dr. Shah. “It’s important to seek help if something feels wrong or if you don’t feel like yourself.” Heeding those classic warning signs is one important takeaway here, but paying attention to other persistent symptoms that you can’t otherwise explain matters just as much.
Answer: 20s or 30s
Basically, now. Even if you feel like you’re in pretty good shape! More than 75 percent of women ages 20 to 39 have one or more modifiable risk factors for heart disease, like diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, currently smoking, or being overweight or obese, per the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI).
With those kinds of stats, odds are there’s at least a couple of things you can do to better support your heart. “You’re never too young—or old—to take care of your heart,” Dr. Shah says. “Preventing heart disease means making smart choices now that will pay off for the rest of your life.”
Answer: 150
That’s the baseline rec from organizations like the American Heart Association (AHA) and the CDC. Aerobic activities like walking, swimming, bicycling, and dancing get your heart rate up, which boosts your cardiovascular fitness. You should be moving at a pace where you’re breathing harder than normal but you can still talk.
You can eke by with a little less—think 75 minutes per week—if you’re willing to get your sweat on with a more vigorous activity that makes it hard to talk without getting out of breath. (Possibilities here include jogging, hiking uphill with a heavy backpack, and jumping rope.)
Ideally, you’ll spread out the workouts so you’re getting some movement most days of the week. And if you fall short once in a while? Instead of sweating it, just do what you can. “Basically, move more and sit less—something is better than nothing,” Dr. Shah says.
Answer: 7 to 9
When Dr. Shah’s patients ask about the ways that they can protect their heart, many are surprised to hear her emphasize sleep. It’s important, people! Too little shut-eye can mess with your body in a bunch of serious ways: It ups your stress level, sets the stage for weight gain, causes body-wide inflammation, and can lead to hormone imbalances, according to the AHA. And all of those things can contribute to heart disease, as well as to high blood pressure and obesity.
Dr. Shah’s Rx: “Women should aim to get seven to nine hours of sleep each night, get consistent sleep each night, and get quality sleep each night.” So pick a reasonable bedtime and stick to it. And do what you can to increase the odds that you can fall asleep and stay asleep, like doing something chill (reading or stretching, anyone?) instead of scrolling on your phone just beforehand.
Answer: Playing with a dog or cat
Stress isn’t great for your heart health, since it raises your blood pressure and potentially sets you up to make not-so-healthy choices, the AHA notes. (Like plowing through a box of cookies, binge-drinking, or skipping your workout in favor of lazing on the couch.)
So next time you start to feel the tension rising, give your furry friend a quick cuddle, or ask a friend or neighbor if you can come by and chill with theirs. Really! “Just playing with a dog or cat has been shown to raise levels of the feel-good chemicals oxytocin and dopamine, creating positive feelings and bonding for both the person and the pet,” Dr. Shah says.
If you’re not a fan of animals or don’t have any around, though, no worries. Taking some time each day for any activity that makes you feel good (gardening! meeting up with a friend! painting!) can also get your stress to a more manageable level.
