DURHAM, N.C. — Women are 10 times more likely to die of heart disease than as a result of cancer, according to the American Heart Association.

Women who control their weight, blood pressure and cholesterol can lower the risk.

But for some women, there is a risk factor that cannot be changed: a family history of heart disease.

Take Janet Bowen, for example.

To her friends and family, Bowen was always the picture of good health, even though heart disease was a problem in her family.

"Everybody that knew me said that I was the least likely person that they knew to have this happen," Bowen said.

What happened was that two years ago she had a heart attack.

"I did get very nauseated, was vomiting, and I had a real clammy feeling," Bowen said.

When it comes to a heart attack, most women can have the classic symptoms of chest pain and shortness of breath, but some have more subtle symptoms, such as nausea, cold sweats, unexplained fatigue and pain in the shoulders, neck and jaw.

Friends convinced Bowen to go to a Greensboro hospital. During catheterization, doctors discovered two heart blockages.

All this led Bowen to raise $3,000 to participate in Sunday's annual Triangle Metro Heart Walk.

The walk begins at 2 p.m. at the

Sheraton Imperial Hotel

on Page Road near I-40.

For more information about the event, please visit the Triangle Metro Heart Walk

Web site

.