One of the most important things women can do for their health is to exercise on a regular basis. Heart disease is the leading cause of death for American women. Many people know that obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure all contribute to early heart disease and to premature death, but they might not be aware that exercise helps reduce all these risk factors. “You might be surprised to learn that keeping your heart healthy doesn’t really take a lot of time. You can start with as little as ten minutes a day. Small changes, such as standing up and moving more can make a big difference…” states Martha Grogan, MD, Cardiologist and Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Mayo Clinic. And there are many additional benefits of exercise on your health. It can brighten your mood, strengthen your bones and muscles, increase your energy level, improve your skin, sleep and sex life, and decrease chronic pain. It also helps sharpen our memory and thinking as we age.
As a doctor, I have been aware of these benefits for a long time. I was thrilled, therefore, when Hadassah launched Every Beat Counts in 2016. This program was designed to educate its members about heart disease and ways to prevent it. This was rapidly followed by Every Bite Counts, a nutrition program, and Every Step Counts, a program to encourage regular walking. I was already involved with our local Hadassah Chapter, Hadassah of Southern Nevada and was eager to help the chapter plan a walk-a-thon and health fair to encourage our local members to be more active, learn about their cardiac risk factors, and adopt healthier eating habits. The online walking challenges also helped me to stick to my goals with the support of so many of my friends here in Las Vegas and throughout our Desert Mountain Region.
I was enormously proud to support an organization that cared about our health and the health of women in Israel. In addition to these educational programs in the United states, in Israel, Hadassah opened the Pollin Center to encourage wellness and healthy lifestyles for women there. They targeted the ultra-orthodox community, Arab women and other low-income Israelis, all of whom are high risk for early heart disease. They also educated women in both countries about the signs of a heart attack in women. These symptoms are often quite different from those of men and therefore diagnosis and treatment of heart disease in women can be dangerously delayed.
Over the next few years, Hadassah continued to support heart health, but the program had moved to the back burner due to newer programs and more pressing research needs. And then the pandemic hit. Women were stuck at home and isolated. I felt this personally last summer. During the first few months of stay-at-home orders, I was able to get out and walk almost daily. I even occasionally walked with a friend while wearing masks. Then the Las Vegas summer hit. It was too hot for daily walks. I only saw my immediate family. My friends were all in similar situations. We were getting depressed from the lack of physical activity and social interaction. After several weeks of discussing this during our online Mah Jongg games, we decided to meet on a local mountaintop to hike together outside. One of my new friends during the pandemic, Allison Teisch, and I began hiking there on a regular basis. We grew close through our weekly get togethers. We started to discuss whether our Hadassah chapter should start a virtual walking program, encouraging others to do the same: find someone to partner with and start moving, together, to motivate and cheer each other up. These discussions continued into the fall as we were able to move our walks closer to home with cooler temperatures in the valley.
National Hadassah was on the same wavelength. This winter they launched Every Move Counts—a reboot of Every Step Counts, but this program counted all activity not just steps. They recommended women partner up with their Hadassah friends in a safe and socially distanced way to engage in regular exercise. We were all aware by then of the mental health toll that Covid was taking on everyone as well as the weight gain many had incurred from months of staying home. There were to be two different three months sessions with virtual challenges to move through Israel and inspiring videos to watch as you progressed.
My walking partner and I were eager to sign up. We started logging our steps and rarely missing a week to get out and move. As more and more people in our area were vaccinated, we joined up with two other women in our chapter and expanded our walking group to four. Now we were all supporting each other. We walked in neighborhoods around our homes, in the nearby Red Rock National Conservation Area, and at Lake Mead National Park. We are all getting healthier, strengthening our friendships and seeing new parts of our city each week. I know that this has not only helped my physical health, but also greatly contributed to better mental health. I hope we can continue to walk together as we are all returning to more normal, and busier lives. I know our friendships will endure.