Freeman Hospital calls attention to women’s heart disease 

JOPLIN, Mo. – Heart disease is the leading cause of death for women of any age in the United States, claiming more than 310,000 women in 2021 alone.

Friday was Go Red Day, an annual event where Freeman Health System President and Chief Executive Officer Paula Baker, along with Freeman cardiologists, techs, and cardiac staff, wore red to raise awareness concerning cardiovascular disease.

“We wear red to stand up for women and to promote their heart health, because we know one in three women’s deaths is attributed to heart disease,” Baker said. “It’s a really big issue.”

Baker spent a good portion of her morning posing with Freeman Heart & Vascular Institute staff for pictures, nearly all of them decked out in red T-shirts or scrubs to raise awareness and promote healthy hearts.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, women can experience many types of heart disease, including coronary artery disease, arrhythmia, and heart valve disease.

“Particularly in the past, women have been underrepresented in studies and trials. Even in medical school when we talk about heart disease they’ve really focused on men over the years,” said Dr. Ryan Longnecker, Freeman’s Director of Cardiology.

Warning signs differ dramatically between men and women.

“It may be shortness of breath, feeling nauseated, shortness of breath, or having this sense of impending doom,” Dr. Longnecker said. “It may not be that ‘oh my gosh, I’m having the big one here!’ It may be more subtle than that. If somebody is in their usual routine and something is out of the ordinary and their body is telling them that something is wrong, they need to pay attention to that.

“We have an expression here that ‘time is (heart) muscle,’ so we never want people to sit on their symptoms for hours because eventually that heart muscle may be permanently harmed and then we just can’t fix it,” he continued.

Getting checked out, Dr. Longnecker said, is never a bad thing. In fact, it could save a life.

Freeman Heart & Vascular Institute is the team to trust when your heart is on the line. For details, visit freemanhealth.com/heart.