Here are some scary statistics for you, especially considering that heart disease is the #1 killer of women:

• Only 1/3 of women know their current cholesterol levels
• Twice as many women know what they weighed in high school than know their current cholesterol levels

9 out of 10 women are aware that high cholesterol can cause build-up of plaque in the arteries, so what's the deal? Why don't women seem to care or take their cholesterol seriously? Do you know what you weighed in high school? Do you know what your cholesterol is? For me I admit it's yes and no. And yeah, there's something wrong with this picture.

According to Heart Disease survivor Katy Kastan, 8 million women are currently living with heart disease, and this number is expected to rise to 12 million within a decade. Heart disease kills about 367,000 women in America each year -- meaning it kills more women than men on average. Women under 50 are more likely to die after a heart attack than men. Moreover, women receive less referrals to heart specialists for diagnostic screening than men. Why is this? That unfortunate answer is that no one knows.

The National Health Institute has discovered that heart disease in many women is generally contained to small heart vessels, meaning it can often go undetected using traditional screening and tests. But that's just the beginning in understanding why men and women differ so greatly when it comes to matters of the heart. But knowledge is the first step to changing the system, so if you'd like to find out more about how to help, check out Kathy Kastan's blog.

Women are living longer, healthier lives than ever before. That's why it's even more important today to prevent one of the leading causes of death among women: heart disease. In fact, heart disease is the leading cause of death among women over 65.

While most of the risk factors, signs and symptoms are the same in women as they are in men, there are unique aspects to women's heart health that are different, so it's important to get tested. And though many tests measure cardiac health, some are better at detecting disease in women.

According to MORE magazine (Sept. 2007), these are the tests that you should be asking for and why:

• Stress echocardiogram -- A stress echocardiogram uses ultrasound to show the heart's motion at rest and at peak exercise and is more accurate for women than conventionsl stress testing, which can lead to false positives in women.

She was 39, athletic, a non-smoker and a healthy eater. Kathy Kastan thought she had taken all the right steps to prevent heart disease, and when she started to feel symptoms of a heart attack, she was shocked. She was diagnosed with a heart blockage and underwent lifesaving surgery but even after the surgery, she felt ill and anxious. She promised herself that if she ever got her health back, she would help others with her firsthand knowledge of heart disease.

Well, She did get her health back and she's kept her promise. Kastan is now the president of the board of directors for WomenHealth: The National Coalition of Women with Heart Disease, and she's reached out to others in her situation by writing a book, called From the Heart: A Woman's Guide to Living Well with Heart Disease. To learn more about her story, check out this article.

None of us are immune to heart disease, and I'm glad Kastan is using her unfortunate experience to reach out to others who may living with this killer disease.

Although breast cancer seems to be getting a lot more press lately, the biggest threat to women's health today is actually heart disease. And although men are more often thought of when picturing a heart attack victim, the truth is women are actually more likely to both have heart disease and they're more likely to die from a heart attack in the weeks immediately following than men are.

The Mayo Clinic has a handy quiz for women regarding the truth on a variety of health topics, heart disease and breast cancer included, and it's interesting to read the explanations after you take it because some of the answers are surprising!

The prevailing theme in medicine has been that Hispanic people are less likely to suffer heart attack or stroke than Caucasian people. But, more recent data suggest that this may actually be completely backwards, and that Hispanic people - especially women - are at a much greater risk at a younger age than their Caucasian counterparts.

These findings were presented at the 47th Annual Conference on Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevented, presented by the American Heart Association. The study was held by researchers in the department of cardiology at the University of Rochester, revealing that Hispanic women who are ten years younger than Caucasian women are at equal risk of heart disease. In the study, 79 Hispanic and 91 Caucasian women were examined. The average age among the Hispanic women was 53, whereas the average age for the Caucasian women was 63. When compared, the heart disease risk for the two groups was almost the same, even though the Hispanic women were ten years younger than the Caucasian women.

What causes this disparity remains unclear. But, what is being looked at are the methods by which population census data is gathered and how accurate it truly is.

We've all heard the expression: There are lies, damn lies, and statistics. I always do my best to remember these very words as I research articles for this blog. As I've pointed out several times, there seems to be a great deal of contradictory information circulating the research field, lending credibility to the aforesaid statement regarding statistics. Understandably, research methods, treatment models, and everything else in between can be the cause of the paucity of irrefutable evidence these days. But, there's simply no excuse for overlooking something as simple as dividing test results by gender. Now being quite honest, I'm not really all up in arms about the whole thing. The Mayo Clinic, however, seems a bit ticked.

According to their own study, the Mayo Clinic determined that it is very rare that researchers will produce a sex-based analysis of their findings. In a review of 64 cardiovascular clinic trials published from July 1 through December 31, 2004, only 153 of the publications provided sex-specific reporting. This is especially dangerous when dealing with diseases that tend to affect one sex more than the other, which is the case with heart disease. Being the number one threat to a woman's health, it is imperative that they know whether published data is skewed in any way by gender involvement.

The researchers from the Mayo Clinic suggest that when female patients are recommended a certain treatment or test, they should ask whether women were included in the research. And, if so (and if known), what percentage of the sample group did they represent.

Just the other day, I saw a woman -- of about forty to forty-five years of age -- yelling and screaming at someone on her cell phone. She happened to be driving by as she did, so I could not hear what all the commotion was about. Just the same, I remember saying out loud, "Lady, relax. You're going to have a heart attack!!" Needless to say, she didn't hear me, but I can't possibly be the first person to speak out loud while they are alone in their car. Anyway, the reason I bring this story up is that it turns out that I may have actually been right.

In the past, studies have linked anger and hostility towards others with increased risk of heart disease in men. But, a a recent study held by doctors from the Preventive and Rehabilitative Cardiac Center and the Women's health at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center found that outward hostility by woman can also effect coronary heart health in women. However, the researchers were quick to note that anger and hostility alone are not predictive of heart disease. When combined with other risk factors, though, this anger and hostility can contribute to increased risk.

Researchers actually isolated the kind of anger that served as the greatest detriment to womens' heart health, and, as stated earlier, it was outward hostility. As in, hostility towards others -- such as whoever was on the other end of that woman's cell phone. Anger Out, as it was called in the study, seems to have more of an effect than cynicsm, hostile temprament and suppressed anger when it is combined with such other risk factors as age, diabetes or dyslipidemia.

Nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain are symptoms of many conditions. During this flu season, don't just disregard your stomach illness as the flu and don't just pass it off as bad food that you ate. A lesson that I learned first hand from my doctor after my flu like symptoms kept coming and going. Conversations with my doctor about personal and family medical history, stress, and ongoing symptoms prompted her to order tests I thought were a little abnormal since I thought I had the flu. These upcoming tests opened my eyes and curiosity to hop on the Internet to do more research. I personally have battled cancer and my whole family has a large history of cancer, heart disease and diabetes. So with this in mind, my doctor has ordered up several tests to determine nothing else is wrong besides the nasty flu bug. With my personal cancer and lupus medical history and my family heart disease and diabetes medical history, the tests make more sense to me now.

The obvious diagnosis of most nausea and vomiting is food poisoning. Nausea or vomiting one to eight hours after a meal may indicate food poisoning. However, certain food born bacteria, such as salmonella, can take longer to produce symptoms. If you are a woman and are pregnant, you experience nausea and vomiting. A viral infection such as the flu can induce vomiting and another well known cause for vomiting is ulcers.

Now a little awareness for the not so obvious reasons for vomiting and nausea. Heart attacks, gastroparesis (most common in diabetics), and certain cancers. Coronary artery disease is the leading cause of death and disability in women after menopause and symptoms of a heart attack at times can be vague and mild in women and include nausea and vomiting. Gastroparesis means paralysis of the muscles of the stomach. Gastroparesis results in delayed emptying of food from the stomach into the small intestine and can cause one to have extreme nausea and vomiting. Certain types of cancers like stomach cancer can cause nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain.

So if you have persistent indigestion, nausea and vomiting off and on, don't just take it for granted that you have food poisoning or the stomach flu. Talk to your doctor about ongoing symptoms that you are experiencing so that they can get to the root of the problem better and give you a more thorough diagnosis.

Question #1: Clogged arteries -- a clear sign of heart disease risk? If you answered Yes, you are correct. No bonus points, however, because that was kind of a gimme.

Question #2: Smooth and even arteries -- a sign that you are completely free of heart disease risk? If you answered Yes, you are incorrect.

This information comes from research conducted by the National Institutes of Health. It turns out that while cholesterol tends to get all gunky and clogged in men's arteries (and most women's), there are close to 3 million American women who have a condition known as coronary microvascular syndrome -- which causes plaque to accumulate smoothly and evenly.

The obvious danger is that typical examinations will find woman with this unique disorder to be free from risk, but in reality they may actually be in danger of suffering a heart attack. So, until doctors have a better handle on how to properly deal with coronary microvascular syndrome, it is probably safest for women to keep cholesterol and blood pressure at safe levels, eat a sensible diet, avoid smoking, and exercise regularly. This way, the chances of misdiagnosis are diminished considerably.

As women get older, it is common to gain weight. The metabolism slows, physical activity lacks, and diets get heavy. These combinations spell out heart disease. According to a new Danish report, women who steer clear of simple carbs and stick with high fiber foods tend to stay slimmer as the years go on.

Over a period of six years, normal-weight women whose diet was higher on the glycemic index -- meaning higher consumption of blood sugar spiking foods like candy and white bread -- packed on more abdominal fat than women whose diets were low glycemic -- consisting of lots of high fiber vegetable and complex carb whole grains.

High glycemic diets also make you feel hungry quicker, prompting you to fill up faster on more empty calories. The study also noted that the results were worst for women who lead sedentary lifestyles -- reminding us that physical exercise is one of the best preventative measures against weight gain.

The recent discovery of a substance that can block sperm production without changing a mans testosterone levels could mean a new contraceptive male Pill available in the next few years -- one without the emotional and physical side effects experienced by the millions of women taking birth control pills everyday.

It works like this: a sustance called adherin blocks immature sperm from bonding with the tissue in the testes which prevents their development into mature, fertilization-capable sperm. In effect, it renders the male infertile -- although once the contraceptives use is discontinued, sperm production returns to normal in as little as three months.

After extensive testing, scientists found the male contraceptive had no adverse side effects on any vital organ, including the heart. For women over 35 taking hormonal contraceptives, they run the risk of heart attack from the formation of blood clots. A survey from the 2000 British Medical Journal found that only 2 percent of women wouldn't trust their partner to take a contraceptive pill.

Advice on eating seafood the past few months -- especially concerning fish like tuna -- sounded a little like this: "Eat the fish. No, don't eat the fish -- no! eat the fish! wait! don't eat the fish!"

In reality, it's easy to simplify -- the guidelines for healthy fish consumption are different for everyone.

The latest report from the committee of the Institute of Medicine, National Academies, recommends two or more weekly three-ounce servings of a variety of fish (to avoid possible contamination through over-exposure to one type of fish) for adults and teens.

Those who are concerned with their heart health can benefit from eating fatty fish such as salmon for the extra protective omega-3s. For women of child-bearing age and children under age 13, only two three-ounce servings a week are safe -- however large predatory fish such as king mackerel, swordfish and shark, as well as albacore tuna, should be avoided due to their high mercury content.

At this years London Fashion Week, world famous designer Giorgio Armani spoke out against the fashion industrys obsession with anorexic looking models. A designer of high art and integrity, Armani stated he never wanted to use unhealthy looking women to show off his works -- instead blaming the interfering of stylists and the media in their demand for ultra-thin models.

The remarks were made in response to an earlier ban at Madrids fashion week, keeping women with extremely low body mass index measurements -- and potential eating disorders -- off the red carpets and away from the cameras -- as a way of protecting the minds of young women, and their future heart health.

Armani made these comments at the years most highly anticipated, star-studded fashion benefit for (PRODUCT) RED -- spawned by U2s Bono to raise money to fight AIDS in Africa.

While smoking rates have declined for men worldwide, more women have begun to pick up the nasty habit -- especially in developing countries. 12 percent of women smoke the world over, and according to the World Health Organization, that figure is expected to rise to 20 percent by 2025. A total 48 percent of men smoke, however that number is expected to drop.

One reason for the rise in female smokers is the increase of tobacco advertising targeting women overseas. Tobacco ad billboards -- banned in the US -- depict attractive, modern, independent women smoking. With heart disease being the major killer around the world, especially of women -- more than breast cancer, statistics have found -- women need to be discouraged to smoke. Smoking is the largest preventable risk factor for heart disease. Check out Independence from Smoking, a resource designed especially for women smokers who want to kick the habit.