Knowledge is Power: learn about your heart
Heart disease is the number one killer of women (and men) in the United States. Each year more women die from cardiovascular disease (including stroke) than the next six causes of death combined, including breast cancer. For twenty years, the rate of men dying from heart disease has been declining, but the rate for women has not.
Knowledge is Power
What do women need to know to help change these alarming statistics? Studies have shown that women aren't aware of the risk. In addition, even though minority women face the highest risk of death from heart disease and stroke, they have a lower awareness of their risk.
Diagnosis
Heart disease may be harder to diagnose in women. Women often have more atypical symptoms such as abdominal pain, difficulty breathing, nausea and unexplained fatigue.
The conventional electrocardiogram (EKG) stress test might not be the best diagnostic tool for women for several
reasons:
Alternatives include stress tests with imaging and stress tests using medication.
- Women can have false positive EKG changes because of estrogen.
- Diffuse coronary artery disease, which is more common in women than in men, might not be picked up on a routine exercise stress test.
- Elderly women might not be fit enough to walk on a treadmill during a conventional stress test.
Taking Action
Claire Duvernoy, M.D., assistant professor, University of Michigan Department of Internal Medicine; director, Cardiovascular Center's Women's Heart Program; and acting chief of the cardiology section at the Ann Arbor Veterans Affairs Medical Center, says that it is important that women "take action now to assess their individual risks." Women need to pay attention to their weight, their cholesterol, and their blood pressure, and above all they need to quit smoking if they currently do so.
Becoming active, having a healthy diet, and following doctors' advice for medications can treat most risks. It is important to pay attention to these factors at any age, but particularly for women going through menopause, since the risk of cardiovascular disease increases around that time.
The University of Michigan Women's Heart Program focuses on helping women-those who have survived a heart- related crisis or face a major risk of having one in the future-identify, evaluate and reduce cardiovascular risk factors. Call 734-998-7400 or toll-free 1-888-287-1082 or visit their web site.
Reading List
Thriving With Heart Disease: The Leading Authority on the Emotional Effects of Heart Disease Tells You and Your Family How to Heal and Reclaim Your Lives by Wayne Sotile and Robin Cantor-Cooke
Women Are Not Small Men: Life-Saving Strategies for Preventing and Healing Heart Disease in Women by Nieca Goldberg, M.D.
Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy: The Harvard Medical School Guide to Healthy Eating by Walter C. Willett, M.D., with P.J. Skerrett
This article appeared in the Jun/July 2007 issue of the Women's Health Newsletter. Read the issue.
