February is women’s heart health month. The American Heart Association (AHA), the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health, and others have gone to great lengths in the past decade to publicize heart disease as the number one cause of death in women. Recent research reveals new information that may surprise you, especially if you are under 50.

More younger women are getting heart disease. According to the NHLBI women are developing heart disease at increasingly younger ages. This is attributed in part to higher rates of obesity in women in their 20s and 30s. The death rate in women from heart disease triples when women move from their 20s to their 30s.

Diabetes increases the risk for heart disease. Type 2 diabetes rates are rising, especially in younger women. If you have a family history of diabetes, had diabetes in pregnancy, or have been told you have borderline high blood sugars, talk to your healthcare provider about what you can do to avoid developing type 2 diabetes. A recent study showed that even women who had borderline diabetes in pregnancy had an increased risk for diabetes and heart disease. Changing your diet and increasing your physical activity along with quitting smoking can delay or prevent diabetes.

As your heart disease risk factors increase your risk multiplies. Do you have high blood pressure, diabetes, smoke, or are overweight? Are you physically inactive or have high blood cholesterol levels? One risk factor alone can double your risk of developing heart disease, but 2 quadruples the risk and 3 increases the risk by tenfold.

Heart disease is a preventable disease. Many risk factors for heart disease can be reversed or modified. Even modest changes in the diet and stopping smoking can mean a big decrease in the risk for developing heart disease.

Increased awareness is not translating into heart healthier lifestyles. Women may be more aware that heart disease is the leading cause of death in women but they are not decreasing their risk factors for heart disease. According to the NHLBI, 80 percent of women between the ages of 40 and 60 have one or more modifiable risk factors, as do 60 percent of women ages 20 to 39. It is especially important for younger women who already have risk factors to change their lifestyles in order to avoid being crippled by heart disease in middle-age and thereafter.

High blood pressure during pregnancy means an increased risk for heart disease later. Some women who had a normal blood pressure before pregnancy will develop high blood pressure during pregnancy. Some women develop preeclampsia which is a condition with high blood pressure, swelling in the entire body, and protein in the urine. Women who have these conditions in pregnancy should talk to their healthcare providers about screening for heart disease and be especially careful to decrease their heart disease risk factors.