Heart Health

Cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of death for women in the United States. One in five women has some form of heart disease. Twice as many women will die of heart disease than of breast, lung, and other cancers combined. More women who have had a heart attack die within a year compared to men who have heart attacks. Almost one in two women will die of heart or blood vessel disease. Fifteen percent more women die of heart disease each year than men and about 63 percent of women who die suddenly from coronary heart disease had no previous symptoms.

Women often have symptoms that are atypical and different than men.
They can be less obvious and include:

• Uncomfortable pressure, fullness, tightness, or pain in the center of the chest, sometimes extending down the left or both arms.
• Pain or discomfort in the lower chest, upper back, shoulders, jaw, or stomach.
• Shortness of breath or breathlessness.
• Unusual fatigue or tiredness (weakness and exhaustion).
• Flu like symptoms (nausea & cold sweating), dizziness, and palpitations.
• Gastric upset.
• Vague feeling of anxiety.
   

You need to be aware of the fact that heart disease does not only affect men. The things that put women at risk for heart disease and stroke are essentially the same for men, except that women tend to be older when the disease strikes. You need to know your risk factors and take steps to modify those things that you have control over. Risk factors include:

• Age, gender, family history, and race - all of which can't be changed or controlled.
• Smoking (controllable risk factor) - women who smoke have a higher risk of heart attack than nonsmokers. Smokers may have a heart attack 15 to 20 years earlier than nonsmokers.
• High blood pressure (controllable risk factor) - women have a higher risk of developing high blood pressure (hypertension) if they are overweight, have a family history of high blood pressure, or have reached menopause.
• High cholesterol (controllable risk factor) - high levels of LDL (bad cholesterol) increase the risk of heart disease. High levels of HDL (good cholesterol) lower the risk of heart disease.
• Obesity (controllable risk factor) has been recognized recently as the number two killer of Americans. Body shape influences the risk of heart disease. Women with a large waist to hip size or apple shape have a higher risk than those women with heavy hips and thighs or pear shape.
• Diabetes (controllable risk factor) - women with diabetes have three to seven times the risk of heart disease than women who do not have diabetes.
• Increased stress (controllable risk factor) - there will always be stress around us, but unhealthy responses to stress can lead to other risk behaviors such as smoking and overeating.
• Physical inactivity (controllable risk factor) - decreased physical inactivity can lead to weight gain which can result in high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes.