BALTIMORE, M.D. — According to the American Heart Association, around every 80 Seconds a woman dies from a cardiovascular disease. Conditions like heart attack, heart disease and stroke make up the leading cause of death in woman, more than all cancer combined.
Brooke Bognanni’s pet bird fills her home with joyful noise and memories of her mother.
“I think she extended her life a year just to see this bird every morning,” said Bognanni, an ambassador for heart health.
This past year Bognanni lost her mom to a battle with cardiovascular disease.
“She was the most loving, generous and selfless person I've ever known. And if I have just a little bit of that than I'm proud to be her daughter,” said Bognanni.
With a heavy heart, she reflects on not only her mom's fight but her own.
“I was walking up to my building at work when I was feeling this chest pain and I thought is this anxiety? We discovered that I had a bad mitral valve and cardiovascular disease. If I didn't have surgery I would die,” said Bognanni.
At 39 years old Brooke went into heart failure. A few years after surgery, she was hit with another crisis. While out for a run she bent over to tie her shoes and lost control of the left half of her body.
“Had I not been with her during my stroke. If I had been somewhere at work or out in the world I think my own consequences of that stroke would have been a lot worse,” said Bognannu
With a long family history, her mom immediately knew the signs of a stroke.
“She struggled for years with cardiovascular disease she lost her mother, her grandmother, her grandfather,” said Bognanni.
Rates of cardiovascular disease for women and men are on the rise after decades of decline. Some risk factors include high blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes and smoking. But there's another set of factors that uniquely affect women.
“Woman who’ve had an adverse pregnancy outcome, such as preeclampsia or gestational diabetes this affects not only their risk of heart health during pregnancy but also increases their risk of cardiovascular disease for decades after,” said
Dr. Erin D. Michos, Director of Women's Cardiovascular Health Research and the Associate Director of Preventive Cardiology within the Johns Hopkins Ciccarone Center for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease.
Persistent hot flashes and premature menopause have also been linked risks. And for women of color, these concerns are amplified. Cardiovascular disease affects around 60 percent of black women. Dr. Michos recommends getting preventative assessments and keeping a close eye on symptoms.
“Especially younger women they both stay at home longer with their symptoms because they think I’m having chest pain I cant be having a heart attack. But they don't always describe it as pain. They describe it as pressure, squeezing sometimes female patients feel like their bra is on too tight, a band across their chest. It can go into your neck or jaw,” said Dr. Michos.
For Brooke, the emotional toll has been her biggest hurdle.
“There's always something around the corner. Every time I bend down to tie my running shoes I think is this another stroke?” said Bognanni.
But she's finding peace in sharing her and her mother's story as an ambassador for the American Heart Association.
