Every 2.5 minutes a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer. Every 60 seconds a woman has a heart attack. And every 23 seconds a woman is diagnosed with diabetes. What if one of these conditions was sneaking up on you? Would you know the warning signs? Awareness empowers prevention. Here’s what you can do to keep your health clear of a major crisis.

The 5 Biggest Mistakes Women Make

Health Mistake #1: Ignoring Exhaustion
Warning Sign: Heart Attack

A normal, healthy heart is able to pump more than 5 liters of blood per minute. Lifestyle choices such as a poor diet, no exercise or smoking all weaken the heart, which makes it more difficult to get blood flowing to the rest of the body. Your hearts tuckers out and so do you.

A National Institutes of Health (NIH) study showed that women often experience new or different symptoms for as long as a month or more before having a heart attack. What’s more, the major heart attack symptoms in women often differ compared to those in men. Exhaustion ranks as the top symptom in women prior to their heart attack. If you wake up unusually tired, have difficulty getting through the day, or have trouble falling asleep – another symptom more common in women – see your doctor to get an echocardiogram (EGG), an ultrasound test used to examine the heart.

Click here for more on women and heart attacks, including a full list of common symptoms.

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