“You can and must be your own advocate for your heart health,” says the renowned singer and actress.
Barbra Streisand advocates for women’s cardiovascular health.
“Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women,” says the iconic singer and actress, who founded the Women’s Heart Alliance in 2014 with tycoon Ron Perelman.
“Fifteen years ago I read a story in The New York Times about gender differences in heart health,” adds Streisand, who is 79 years old. “I was shocked to learn that more women are dying from cardiovascular disease than from all cancers combined and aren’t receiving the same attention in diagnosis and treatment as men.” The Barbra Streisand Women’s Heart Center at Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute in Los Angeles bears her honor because of her dedication to improving research into women’s cardiovascular health. “It just never made sense to me that women and men weren’t treated equally,” she explains.
“Doctors are often dismissive when women complain of what could be symptoms of heart problems,” she says. “For so many years, heart disease was thought to be a man’s disease, and women with similar or more unique symptoms were often misdiagnosed as having digestive problems or being emotionally stressed.” The more she learned about the gender inequalities in preventing heart disease, the more she wanted to empower and educate women to take control of their health.
