Did you know that heart disease is the single greatest risk to a woman's health? Twice as many women die from heart disease and strokes than they do from all cancers combined.
What is your risk?
Because women may have different symptoms than men, women must be screened for risks for heart disease. You can have simple blood tests for lipids, cholesterol and diabetes, as well as a health history evaluation to reveal other risk factors including:
- a family history of heart disease (especially in primary relatives diagnosed at 55 or younger);
- smoking;
- high blood cholesterol or an unfavorable cholesterol ratio;
- high blood pressure, particularly if inadequately treated;
- diabetes;
- postmenopausal status;
- a sedentary lifestyle; and
- being overweight (because being overweight often leads to high blood pressure, diabetes and associated cholesterol abnormalities, obesity is an especially potent cardiac risk)
Heart Attack Warning Signs for Women
Atypical heart attack symptoms may include symptoms that feel like indigestion or "gas pains," unexplained generalized weakness and back pain. Seek medical treatment within one hour of symptoms, when drugs and other treatments will be most effective.
If you are experiencing any one of these signs, Call 9-1-1 or get medical help immediately!
- Chest pain
- Uncomfortable pressure, fullness, squeezing or pain in the center of the chest that lasts more than a few minutes or goes away and comes back
- Radiating pain
- Pain that spreads to the arms, shoulders, neck, jaw or back
- Difficulty breathing
- Shortness of breath, painful or labored breathing
- Dizziness
- Light-headedness or faintness with chest discomfort
- Unexplained sweating
- Profuse, sudden, or cold sweats
- Nausea
- What feels like severe heartburn or indigestion, with or without vomiting, could actually be a heart attack. Women may also experience uncommon stomach or abdominal pain, unexplained anxiety or fatigue, palpitations or paleness.
Women's Risk of Heart Disease
Women experience coronary artery disease in comparable levels to men, but are not evaluated and followed as closely.
Did you know...
- In the U.S., 41% of women die from coronary artery disease processes, primarily acute heart attack and stroke, accounting for more than 500,000 deaths annually, far exceeding all other conditions combined (American Heart Association 2003).
- One in two women will die of heart disease or stroke, compared with one in 30 who will die of breast cancer. (American Heart Association 2002 Heart and Stoke Statistical Update)
- Following a heart attack, younger women have higher rates of death than men of the same age. One third of this difference in risk is attributable to a person's medical history, the severity of the heart attack and early management (Vaccarino 1999).
- 83 percent of women are at risk for heart disease (with one or more risk factors), yet only 26 percent have been diagnosed or perceive themselves to be at risk. (VHA Inc. Proprietary Research, Clinical Advantage Outreach Initiatives: Women and Heart Disease conducted by Market Strategies Inc. Healthcare Research and Consulting)
- Within one year after a heart attack, 38% of women will die, compared to 25% of men (American Heart Association 2003).
- Women who smoke, have diabetes and hypertension have the highest risk for heart disease, but less than half of women with these risk factors are worried about it (Biswas 2002).
- Fewer than three in 10 women perceive heart disease as their greatest health threat. (VHA Inc. Proprietary Research, Clinical Advantage Outreach Initiatives: Women and Heart Disease conducted by Market Strategies Inc. Healthcare Research and Consulting)
- Fewer women with unstable angina are under the care of a cardiologist as compared to men. Women are less likely to be offered appropriate tests and medications than men. (Scirica 1999)
- Nearly 50 percent of women older than 45 have high blood pressure and elevated total cholesterol levels --- both well-documented risk factors. (American Heart Association)
Please visit these websites for more information:
Women and Cardiovascular Disease (American Heart Association)
Delicious Decisions (American Heart Association)
Cardiovascular Institute
Health Finder (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services)
My Heart Central
National Heart Lung and Blood Institute
National Center for Complimentary and Alternative Medicine
AltMedicine