One thing that I enjoy so much about my line of work is the wide variety of people that I have the pleasure of interacting with every day. I have clients of all age groups, abilities, backgrounds, occupations and, my personal favorite, interesting stories of their lives. I love to engage with each person to see what makes them "tick" and try to harness that to promote their personal fitness and wellness journey. The other day, one client in particular said something that struck me and it became the inspiration for this article. This gentleman, who happens to be in great shape and has a great diet, owns several funeral homes, a crematorium and a monument company. When we were chatting the other day he said, quite frankly, "You would not believe the number of 50-year-old men who come through my business" and I knew exactly what he meant. He was speaking of the number of heart attacks that happen unnecessarily due to lifestyle.

Heart disease in men is a huge concern in the US, killing approx. 321,000 each year-that's 1 in every 4 male's deaths. What's even more disturbing is that half of men that die suddenly from heart disease have no previous symptoms, and 70-90% of sudden cardiac events occur in men. One statistic I read stated that cardiovascular diseases claim more lives than all forms of cancer combined. Wow. . .

And women don't have it much better off. 1 in 3 of women's deaths is related to heart disease, and the symptoms can be harder to detect than a man's.

The biggest culprits for heart disease are high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and smoking. But several other factors such as diabetes, obesity, inactivity and poor diet are also contributors. The good thing about this is that heart disease CAN be very preventable with healthy lifestyle choices such as a good diet and exercise.

Speaking of symptoms, let's review what to watch for in each gender. Men typically have chest pain, discomfort or pressure. Others include: discomfort in arms, jaw or back, shortness of breathing, and a heartburn sensation.

For women, the chest may feel full or squeezing. Arm, back, neck or jaw pain is more common in women as is stomach pain. Women also may break into a nervous cold sweat and have extreme fatigue when experiencing a coronary attack.

Sadly, these symptoms can be so mild and/or dismissed as something less serious that it may not be caught before a sudden attack. It is SO important to pay strong attention to your body and act upon symptoms that are out of the ordinary for you. Also, regular checkups along with healthy diet and exercise are key to prevention.

I realize that most of this information is likely repeating what you have heard several times before but it can't hurt to remind! Hope you are all enjoying this summer so far. It's gonna be a hot one. . . .wear your sunscreen!!