By Mark Ambrogi

Dr. Sarah Johnson went from the modest beginnings of growing up on a farm and attending a tiny high school with 20 students in her graduating class to a remarkable career as one of the first female interventional cardiologists in the nation.

Johnson, who has been practicing medicine since 1972 and is affiliated with multiple hospitals in the Chicago area, shared her story at Riverview Health Foundation’s 11th annual Women of Vision luncheon at the Renaissance Indianapolis North in Carmel. Johnson received her undergraduate and medical degrees from the University of Illinois.

Along with her message of how she succeed in a male-dominated field, Johnson encouraged the audience to spread awareness of cardiovascular disease

“Cardiovascular disease kills more women than the next five diseases combined,” Johnson said. “One in three women has some form of cardiovascular disease.”

One in three women die of heart disease or stroke according to the American Heart Association.

Johnson said women are more likely to ignore symptoms because of their other obligations.

“Women are more likely wait because you have the job, you got the kids, you got the shopping, you got the home, you got the (older) parents,” Johnson said. “You have everything going on and your health becomes low priority.”

Johnson said the possibility of a heart attack rises after menopause because women lose the protection of the female hormone estrogen.

For years, Johnson said more women surveyed believe that cancer was the number one killer of women but that has started to change in recent years.

“We have to do a better job of educating women in every age and ethnic group,” Johnson said.

Johnson wore a red dress to signify the Go Red for Women campaign to raise awareness.

According to goredforwomen.org, only one in three Hispanic women are aware that heart disease is their No. 1 killer. Only 43 percent of African-American women surveyed know that heart disease is their greatest health risk.

Johnson said it is important for women to monitor high blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar.

“If you have high blood pressure when you are pregnant, your chances of having high blood pressure later in life are 75 to 100 percent,” Johnson said.

Johnson said excessive weight gain during pregnancy also can become an issue.

According to the Texas Heart Institute, heart attacks are generally more severe in women than men. In the first year after a heart attack, women are 50 percent more likely to die than men are. In the first six years after a heart attack, women are almost twice as likely to have a second heart attack.

Medtronic Cardiac and Vascular Group served as the speaker sponsor this year.