By Andrea Byl
For The State News
America's number one killer of women took Christin Faccio's mother and she wants it to stop.
Her mother, Marilyn Faccio, 48, died of a heart attack in 2002; the unidentified heart disease symptoms echoed a common chorus.
The MSU dietetics junior spoke publicly for the first time on Thursday to bring awareness to the symptoms women experience with heart disease.
The glass-floored rotunda at the Capitol was filled with nearly 100 supporters dressed in red at the Go Red for Women Rally, a program sponsored by the American Heart Association.
"As an MSU student I'm a real advocate of heart disease prevention now," Faccio said. "Just because we are young, we are not safe."
The heart attack symptoms women experience are often times very different than those of men, said cardiologist Michael James, president of Thoracic Cardiovascular Institute in Lansing, who also spoke at the rally.
The symptoms women should look out for include shortness of breath, sudden episodes of fatigue, cold sweat and nausea.
Most women go to the doctor for what James calls "bikini medicine," focusing on getting a mammogram and a pap smear. Yet 500,000 women die of cardiovascular disease each year, many without recognizing the symptoms, he said.
Diane Morse was one of these women. She had a heart attack shortly after finishing a 5K race four years ago.
"I had no factors when I had my heart attack," Morse said. "It can happen to anyone."
Morse, who came to support the rally, is a member of the American Heart Association and is an educator for cardiology at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ann Arbor.
"It's exciting, the focus on women and heart disease," she said. "We are learning a lot."
Speakers at the rally also talked about the prevention measures that can be taken. A lifestyle of exercise exceeds any other prevention measure, but a healthy diet low in sodium and fat is crucial as well.
James emphasized that every bit of exercise makes a difference, even for those who are overweight or obese.
"Instead of the elevator, take the stairs; instead of parking close, walk," he said.
Smoking is the number one risk factor for heart disease. It takes 15 years after quitting to return to a normal risk level. Women who use birth control and smoke cigarettes increase the risk by 20-30 percent.
James cited some research done on a group of people in the Andes Mountains who lived to be more than 100 years old. As an agricultural community, their diet had no meat and their farming required walking all day in the hills.
The rally organizer and representative of the American Heart Association, Muffy Sinclair, said it was her own loss of family members that brought the challenges women have with heart disease to the surface.
She attributes many of the unidentified symptoms to the roll women play in the family.
"We are nurturers and we don't have time to be sick," she said.
Nearly four years after her mother's death, Faccio is dedicated to getting the word out to the younger generations.
