The Family Guide to a Healthy Heart

Here's everything you and your loved ones must know. (Surprise: You each need something different!)

By Linda Marsa

From Reader's Digest

Images from this article

Photographed by Martin H. Simon

Cindy Steger, 49
"My doctors and I missed the warning signs of my heart attack. But that's not unusual-I've met lots of women with similar stories."

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Photographed by Jason Grow

Brian Bishop, 32
"When I woke up in the ICU, I made a promise to myself: I would never return. I'd do whatever it took to stay out of that place."

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Photographed by Tim Tadder

Cheryl Bland, 43
"When we switched to turkey burgers-that was hard for the kids. But now we've figured out how to make old favorites in a healthy way."

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Photographed by Martin H. Simon

Cindy Steger, 49
"My doctors and I missed the warning signs of my heart attack. But that's not unusual-I've met lots of women with similar stories."

It was oppressively hot that Sunday evening in August 2004 when Cindy Steger finished a 5K racewalk. She'd put in a good time, but suddenly she felt dizzy and nauseated and broke out in a sweat. I must be dehydrated, she thought, and went home to sleep it off.

By Tuesday, she felt well enough to push through her usual two-and-a-half-mile walking workout-until she got home, where a wave of weakness made her lie down on the foyer floor. But when she called her doctor's office, he was booked solid, and her symptoms didn't seem to strike anyone as terribly worrisome.

Steger wasn't too concerned either. Her brother and father had died of heart disease, but the 49-year-old federal investigator, who lives with her husband in Williamsburg, Virginia, kept her weight in check, watched what she ate, and worked out hard and often. Besides, five months earlier, when she'd been feeling light-headed and tired, she'd undergone a treadmill stress test and had been given a clean bill of health. That was a nearly fatal mistake. By Thursday, when exertion sent shooting pains up Steger's arms, she was admitted to the hospital. Tests showed she had suffered a heart attack. Deprived of oxygen for days, part of her heart muscle had died.

Unfortunately, Steger's experience isn't unusual. Although experts have warned for years that heart attack symptoms in women can be subtle and easy to miss, studies show that doctors are still slow to make the diagnosis. To make matters worse, standard tests that should warn of trouble sometimes fail to detect blood vessel obstruction when they're used in women.

The big news about heart health in the past few years: Women need to pay attention to their own special risks. And so do men. (The sudden death of newsman Tim Russert last year, at the young age of 58, sent shivers down the spines of men across the country.) Surprisingly, even children and teens need to be aware -- or at least the parents who want to keep them safe do. A few months ago, a shocking study suggested that as children pile on the pounds, they're putting stress on blood vessels and ratcheting up the likelihood of cardiovascular problems in the future.

Thankfully, as research has revealed the different vulnerabilities of each member of the family, scientists have also made great leaps in figuring out the specific prevention strategies and diagnostic tools that work best for men, women, and children. So now, more than ever, when it comes to the health of your heart, knowledge is your best protection. You might even say it's your lifeblood.

• Healthy Heart
• • Your Medical Care

• Heart Exam Numbers to Watch
• Stay healthy with a breakdown of the important numbers.
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• Heart-Healthy Mediterranean Recipes
• The diet that keeps the heart healthy.
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• The Heart Tests to Get (and a Few to Consider)
• Learn about the basic exams, plus some helpful, cutting-edge extras.
• 
• The Best Prescription for Heart Health
• You don't need to join a gym, but you will need to move!
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