49% Of Black Women Over 20 Have Heart Disease & May Not Even Know It
This article is in collaboration with The American Heart Association, but all opinions are our own.
There is a silent killer that lurks among even the most proactive women of color that they may not even know exists. This particular villain is elusive and does not often shows signs of danger to its victim, but has successfully become the number one killer of Black women in the US.
Sugar, salt, and stress are some examples of the near-fatal weapons that have been historically held in the arsenal of Black women. It may come as a surprise, but such factors have resulted in an alarming percentage of our population being affected by heart disease. According to the American Heart Association, 49% of Black women in our country over the age of 20 have some form of heart disease, which can ultimately lead to a stroke or heart attack.
High blood pressure, diabetes, smoking, high blood cholesterol, lack of physical activity, a family history of heart disease, and obesity are some of the major risk factors that lead up to heart disease, which kills nearly 50,000 Black women in the US every year. The American Heart Association also revealed that only 36% of Black women know that heart disease is the #1 risk of death for our demographic, and only 1 in 5 Black women feel personally at risk.
You read that right. There is an unmasked assailant that's responsible for killing more than 50,000 Black women every year, but less than a fourth of us are even aware.
Traditionally, Black families have existed under a matriarchy for the most part, leaving Black women to develop a superwoman complex. We must be sisters, mothers, daughters, lovers, and friends, and sometimes we forget to take care of the person who takes care of everyone else. This blatant neglect of self-care can contribute to poor diet and high stress.
Black women have a higher risk of heart disease than any other demographic. Stress, diabetes, obesity, and high cholesterol are all risk factors associated with cardiovascular disease and are regular parts of a black girl's reality. Even women who are healthy may be at risk due to their family history.
We are more likely to die at an earlier age when compared to women of any other ethnicity.
This epidemic demands a response, so we have to make a choice. We can continue to let this unmasked villain steal the lives of our sisters, mothers, friends, and daughters, or we can choose knowledge. Organizations like the American Heart Association are on a mission to make the choice easier for Black women. The organization is dedicated to raising money to fund life-saving science and provide resources to those seeking to live their best lives.
After doing some research, here are three ways we as Black women can slay the boogie man that is cardiovascular disease, and proceed in slaying the day with a healthy heart:
Walk It Like You Talk It
You're a busy woman with a lot of stuff on your plate, I get it. But you can't continue to fill from an empty cup. Set out at least 20 minutes a day for physical wellness to lower your stress levels and decrease your chances of heart disease. Something as simple as a half-hour walk or choosing the stairs instead of the elevator can help reduce your chances of a heart attack or stroke.
Get Enough Sleep
We live in an era that suggests not going to sleep will make you rich, and this ideology is just not true. The American Heart Association suggests that you get 7-8 hours of sleep per day to improve your cardiovascular health and maintain a healthy weight. A study done by the American Heart Association in 2011 showed that poor sleep quality resulted in high blood pressure levels and proved that people who do not sleep enough can have poor metabolism and experience weight gain.
Eat To Live
Salt and sugar are the perfectly delicious combo that can be harmful to our health at higher than recommended levels, but in which we indulge without remorse. Genetic predisposition in the form of a heredity history of heart disease tends to make Black women more susceptible than other demographics to high blood pressure and strokes. Part of reversing the epidemic that cardiovascular disease created means unlearning some of our unhealthy relationships toward food. Hypertension, diabetes, and obesity are all risk factors for heart disease and disproportionately affect Black women, mainly due to our diets. Cut back on the salt and sugar to help improve your overall physical wellness, and even add a squash a day and other fresh vegetables to help add to a healthy diet.
Hug It Out
I'm not a huge fan of physical affection, but if it means better health, I'm here for it. Studies show that hugging can reduce blood pressure among some women, so grab a beautiful woman and hug her today, you might just be helping her health!
Millennial women have access to so much knowledge in the 21st century, so it makes no sense that a disease that is so preventable is wiping us out. We've worked to overcome depression, oppression, and every other foe that we've encountered under the sun, so we cannot let heart disease win the battle. Even if it means coming face-to-face and being in opposition with our own self-sabotage.
The weapons of choice in my arsenal include a little bit of sugar, salt, and stress, but most importantly, for years I was a smoker. As a woman who previously smoked tobacco, the daughter of a mother who smoked tobacco, and the granddaughter of a woman who also smoked tobacco, I was aware that I had been blissfully existing and sabotaging my own physical health.
I read the warning on the side of the cigarette pack, but I didn't pay it any mind. I would repeat my mom's age-old mantra: Really, everything gives you cancer. Or something's gonna kill you eventually anyway. I ain't scared of no mf Surgeon General.
This attitude is one that has helped develop the notoriety of the unmasked killer that is cardiovascular disease, and the only way to remedy the epidemic is to spread knowledge. Cancer doesn't have anything on heart disease, a fact that had been pretty much elusive to me until I had written this article. When I think about my mother and best friend, my sister and my aunt, I understand that this epidemic may one day affect one or all of us if we are not more mindful of our physical wellness.
Thanks to technology there is a multitude of information and resources that allow women to take a front seat when it comes to their heart health and quality of life. You may not be able to control your genetic predisposition, but you can take control of your diet, cholesterol, and blood pressure. Get that heart pumping, girl.
To get free resources on heart disease, stroke, and the early warning signs, and to learn more about how to improve your heart health, click here.
This article was previously published on July 4, 2018.
Featured image by Shutterstock
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Taylor "Pretty" Honore is a spiritually centered and equally provocative rapper from Baton Rouge, Louisiana with a love for people and storytelling. You can probably find me planting herbs in your local community garden, blasting "Back That Thang Up" from my mini speaker. Let's get to know each other: @prettyhonore.
ItGirl 100 Honors Black Women Who Create Culture & Put On For Their Cities
As they say, create the change you want to see in this world, besties. That’s why xoNecole linked up with Hyundai for the inaugural ItGirl 100 List, a celebration of 100 Genzennial women who aren’t afraid to pull up their own seats to the table. Across regions and industries, these women embody the essence of discovering self-value through purpose, honey! They're fierce, they’re ultra-creative, and we know they make their cities proud.
VIEW THE FULL ITGIRL 100 LIST HERE.
Don’t forget to also check out the ItGirl Directory, featuring 50 Black-woman-owned marketing and branding agencies, photographers and videographers, publicists, and more.
THE ITGIRL MEMO
I. An ItGirl puts on for her city and masters her self-worth through purpose.
II. An ItGirl celebrates all the things that make her unique.
III. An ItGirl empowers others to become the best versions of themselves.
IV. An ItGirl leads by example, inspiring others through her actions and integrity.
V. An ItGirl paves the way for authenticity and diversity in all aspects of life.
VI. An ItGirl uses the power of her voice to advocate for positive change in the world.
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Less & Less Of Us Have Close Friends These Days. Why Is That?
German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche once said, “It is not a lack of love, but a lack of friendship that makes unhappy marriages.” At close to two decades of working with married couples, I agree with this man 1000 percent. It’s actually the main motivation for why I once penned, “Are You Sure You're Actually FRIENDS With Your Spouse?” because, the reality is, if you’re not friends with the person who you vowed to share every aspect of your life with, for the rest of your life, it’s going to be very difficult (if not damn near impossible) to honor that level of commitment. Without question, I will now and forever die on the hill that if you like your partner, you can make it through the not-so-in-love-right-now moments. Vice versa? Eh…not so much.
A basis for why I feel this way? Another quote immediately comes to mind. Famed author Jane Austen once wrote: “There is nothing I would not do for those who are really my friends. I have no notion of loving people by halves, it is not my nature.” You know, back when I also wrote “10 Things You Should Absolutely Expect From Your Friendships” for the platform, I shared that some of the traits of a friend — a real friend — include loyalty, honesty and compassion. And if you can’t say that your spouse is this way (as they say the same thing about you), chile…what is y’all doin’ over there?
So, why am I talking about marriage when this article is supposed to be about friendship? It’s because, something that life has taught me, kinda sorta the hard way, is we should vet potential friends — especially close friends — almost like we would a spouse.
And if you keep reading, I think you’ll get why I framed the intro in the way that I did.
Why Friendships Are Still Hella Essential
GiphyOkay, so before I get into why it seems that people have fewer friends than they ever had before, let me just say that, even as an ambivert who enjoys my own company and has absolutely no problem with being alone a good amount of the time, every personality type needs friends. That’s not just my opinion;science makes it a fact. Not only do studies support thathealthy friendships help us to feel more satisfied with our lives, but they can also reduce our chances of experiencing depression, stress, and anxiety and they increase longevity overall.
This is why — without going too deep because it’s kind of another topic for another time — it’s important to not allow past hurts and disappointments from former friends (or folks you thought were your friends) to cause you to build up walls as you declare that you don’t need anyone. When you do that, all you’re really doing is working against your own health and well-being. The saying that “no man (or woman) is an island”? It is absolutely true.
That said, even if it’s just a couple of people, make sure that you’ve got individuals in your life who you can call a friend and, in turn, they can say the very same thing about you, okay?
Are All of Those People Your Actual Friends? Or Do You Just Happen to Know a Lot of Folks?
GiphyAight but what if you happen to be someone who swings on the other side of few? Meaning, if someone were to ask you how many friends you had, you’d quickly declare that you’ve got too many to count. Listen, not to patronize or anything yet, but whenever I hear folks (especially if they are over 35) say something along those lines, it takes me back to high school — a time when so many of us thought that so long as we knew a ton of folks and/or we were popular, clearly, we had many friends.
Wisdom and pure ole’ dealing with humans on a consistent basis will teach you that an article that I wrote a few years back for the platform has a title that is spot-on: “According To Experts, We Only Have A Few Friends — Here's Why.” According to it, the average American (based on a survey that was conducted) has somewhere around 16 friends. Oh, but wait. Last fall, I wrote another article for the platform entitled, “What's The 'Five Friendship Theory' All About?” According to it, if you’re someone who takes the word “friend” and the responsibility that comes along with it very seriously and quite literally, as an adult, you can probably only maintain about five close friendships.
Why? Well, that brings in another article that I once wrote: “Life Taught Me That True Friendships Are 'Inconvenient.'” Chile, I don’t know about y’all but my friends know that if I call you that, you can call me in the middle of the night, and you can have money towards your rent (I’m not your mama but we all have hard times sometimes) and I’m gonna have your back in a way where you’ll wonder where you stop and I start — and no, I don’t have a lot of bandwidth for a ton of those people.
Okay, but what if you’re someone who is like, “I know that I have more than 16 and definitely more than five friends, no question”? The next thing that I would encourage you to explore is a theory by Aristotle (check out “According To Aristotle, We Need ‘Utility’, ‘Pleasure’ & ‘Good’ Friends”). Without even realizing it, many of us have people who we use the word “friend” for when…it’s kind of like how social media apps say “friend”: we’re familiar with one another and enjoy some of the same things, we might even have some of the same goals; at the same time, though, we’re not “all-encompassing friends.” We just get along really well at work (utility friends) or like to go to brunch at the same spots sometimes (pleasure friends).
Taking all of this into account, are you sure that you have a ton of actual friends? Or do you just happen to know a lot of people and you use that word for the lack of having another?
And that brings me to my next point.
There’s A LOT of Space Between “Friend” and “Enemy”
GiphyIf you read a lot of my friendship content, something that you will notice me saying quite a bit is that there is quite a bit of space between friend and enemy. It needs to be mentioned, as often as possible, because there are some people who get offended if you don’t consider them to be a friend — and that is unfortunate. I say that because the conclusion shouldn’t automatically be that they are your enemy just because “friend” isn’t what immediately comes to your mind.
They can be an acquaintance. They can be “cool people.” There is someone in my life who, while we’re not friends in the traditional sense, we are each other’s confidant; years ago, we agreed that we would be the place to tell each other whatever and it would stay between us — that is the main purpose that we serve in each other’s lives. Some people, you may consider to be spiritual family in the sense that you care for them and have some deeply profound things in common and still, they are not exactly a friend (I mean, a lot of blood relatives aren’t “friends” with each other).
All I’m trying to say here is we’re all too old now to only put folks in two boxes when it comes to this particular relational dynamic: friend or enemy. So, take some time out to seriously reflect on what you consider the various people in your life to be. I can promise you from personal experience that the sooner you know and the clearer you are, the easier it will be on everybody — because needs and expectations will be clear to you (and them once you articulate them) too.
What Got Folks to Having Less Friends? The Pandemic Plays a Significant Part.
GiphySo finally on to what inspired this piece to begin with. A part of it was an article that was published last year by Big Think entitled, “Americans more than ever have no friends. Here are 5 steps to make more friends.” Another was something that The New Yorker published back in 2021; it’s entitled “What COVID did to friendship.” Y’all don’t have enough time and I don’t have enough space to get into the fact that, just because the media may be talking about it less, that doesn’t mean that we’re not still in a pandemic.
In fact,one article stated my thoughts on it quite well when it said, “The real question, then, is not whether COVID is still a pandemic, but how much COVID illness and death are we willing to accept?” SMDH. And one of the things that has come with experiencing COVID is an interesting type of PTSD: detachment. There are plenty of articles out here to support the fact that my saying that is not merely my opinion.
Even according to the American Psychological Association, loneliness damn near skyrocketed, especially during lockdown and, unfortunately, a lot of people have not recovered from it. That’s why it did not surprise me at all when I read that more than ever, many people do not consider anyone to be a best friend; fewer people are relying on friends for any type of real support, and there is a semi-steady decline in people having friends, especially quality friendships, overall.
In fact, as far as close friends go, currently, close to 50 percent of Americans say that they only have three or fewer, and a relevant contributor to that was what the pandemic revealed as far as people’s proactive participation in other individuals’ lives (I actually read that young women were the ones who lost touch with friends during the peak of the pandemic the most). I also thought it was interesting that some studies cite that 12 percent of Americans say that they don’t have any friends at all.
Is the pandemic the only cause? No. So are things like people working more hours and spending more time online than they probably should (which also increased due to the pandemic, though). To that, Teen Vogue once published, “Social Media Is Impacting IRL Friendships” and Healthline once published, “Social Media Is Killing Your Friendships.” Then we also have to factor in having families of our own which can also take up a lot of time, and that sometimes can cause us to forget to nurture our friendships; so, before you know it, they fade to black. Not due to a fallout or anything, just…life.
And all of this? Some people are saying that it has led to what is known as a “friendship recession.” A huge flag about that is there are reports that a drop in close friends can cultivate a type of loneliness that is just as health hazardous as smoking a whopping 15 cigarettes a day. Not good, y’all. Not. Good.
Quality over Quantity Is Key. Just Make Sure That You Have a Friend or Two.
GiphyOkay, so what is my overall point? That’s a fair question. Just like sometimes “life life-ing” can make us forget to tend to our friendships, if you don’t stumble across content like this, you might not even realize that you’re feeling mentally stressed, emotionally strained, or super isolated and it’s all because you need to prioritize your friendships — because your mind, body, and spirit need them. Again, science has proved it.
At the same time, if, like a client of mine, you find yourself getting a little bit paranoid because you have noticed that over the past several years, your close friend count has been far less than what it used to be, this article proves that you are absolutely not (pardon the pun) alone. Honestly, there’s nothing wrong with having a very small circle of friends because quality is gonna beat out quantity every time; you just need to assess when it happened and why so that you can be sure that you are choosing it to play out that way and it’s not due to some underlying cause that you hadn’t taken into consideration — until now.
An Italian priest by the name of Thomas Aquinas once said, “The happy man in this life needs friends.” Even if it’s just one or two people, please make sure that you have folks who aren’t just your friend but your very close friend. You need them. They need you.
Everyone else, figure out where they fall and nurture accordingly. Life is a lot. We all get by with the help of our friends. Real talk, y’all. Thank goodness for them.
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Featured image by jose carlos cerdeno martinez/Getty Images