Ann and I met when our children entered the same sweet and chewy elementary school. (Sample lesson: You and Jade each have her two cookies. How many are you after you split with Tristan and Isabel?)
Anne and I bonded over a shared quip about our offspring happily sharing cookies and our shared interest in being outdoors. The following year we started hiking and mountain biking together regularly with different teams of spouses, friends, kids, dogs, etc. In 2017, I joined another friend who was half her I trained for a marathon. We all finished within hours of our target time.
When the pandemic hit, we rarely saw each other, but gathered on the trails when possible.
Ann also ate well. She was a great cook. she didn’t drink After gaining a little weight in middle age, she lost it and she looked supple and strong.She has never smoked. Her mother lived into her 90s and her father nearly as long.
But one afternoon this month, Anne got off her bike and complained of nausea and fatigue. Indigestion caused her to take Tum. They were no help. she vomited. Her husband suggested emergency treatment. she declined.
The next morning, Anne collapsed in the bathroom and could not be resuscitated.
Most of us, as adults, have friends of convenience, friends of chance, friends of good times and occasional get-togethers, friends of the soul. and lost everyone who loved her, but was confused and angry as hell. It seems that she didn’t even think of Anne.
So I would like to tell you about my friend Ann.
Even women who exercise can get heart disease
“Heart disease is still the number one killer of American women. When you ask people, they almost always say breast cancer is number one. But women are 10 times more likely to die of heart disease than breast cancer.” higher.”
That risk extends to women like my friend Ann. She also had no family history of heart disease. By my inner reckoning, Ann should have been safe as someone who writes about the health benefits of exercise, and she did the right thing. she did what i do She did what I told everyone to do.
“At a population level, there is no doubt that physical activity is very good for us and our minds,” Gulati said. is the person with the highest
However, she continues, on an individual level, healthy, healthy people can and often do develop heart disease. Any of us can be struck by lightning.
Pay attention to symptoms that are new to you
So I want to talk to you about heart symptoms and reactions. Especially if you’re female, healthy, and perhaps like me, consider yourself nearly invincible.
C. Noel Bailey Mertz, director of the Barbra Streisand Women’s Heart Center, said:
Sudden and unusual shortness of breath and severe fatigue are common among women experiencing a heart attack, as are chest pain and discomfort, an upset stomach, and new pains in the back, neck, and jaw. , said Gulati.
The classic Hollywood version of a heart attack – grabbing the chest and keeling over – is pretty rare, especially for women.
Meanwhile, many women cannot believe or do not believe that their hearts may be failing. rice field. “I always say, if you take other people to the hospital with such symptoms, make sure you take them there yourself.”
This is why I wanted to tell you about Anne. I wanted to encourage all of us to pay attention, accept our body’s limitations, and respond to their signals as we set exercise goals for the next year. Do the same for everyone you care about.
The final message from Anne was about winter footraces on our favorite rolling trails. The distance was a little longer than either of us had attempted recently, but Anne was game. “Reasons to go outside.”
So on a recent sunny cold morning, I ran a race with my son and some friends. Not because of competition or exercise, but because of the people I love, the land that surrounds me, a deeper and more substantial connection with my own beating heart, and a dear and irreplaceable friend. Godspeed, Ann.
Have a fitness question? e-mail YourMove@washpost.com I may answer your question in a future column.
