PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — The first Friday in February is National Wear Red Day . It’s to raise awareness about heart disease, the leading killer of men and women. However, women can have different symptoms and outcomes.
The symptoms of heart disease, things like high cholesterol and blood pressure, usually aren’t obvious.
Doctors said that’s why it’s important to know your numbers and there are also other kinds of heart issues.
Talk about a shocker, 37-year-old Jessica Anderson never knew she had a stroke and a hole in her heart.
“I had no idea that was a big shock when that happened,” she said.
The discovery was made after a car accident and neck pain that wouldn’t go away. An MRI showed the stroke was caused by a heart condition called a PFO.
“A PFO is a patent foramen ovale it’s a connection between the right side of the heart,” Dr. William Gray said.
Cardiologist William Gray at Main Line Health said that connection is supposed to close soon after birth but sometimes it doesn’t, which usually isn’t a problem unless there’s a stroke, like what happened with Anderson.