Understanding Women's Heart Health
This February we鈥檙e acknowledging American Heart Month by discussing the importance of women鈥檚 heart health. Heart disease is the number one killer of women in the United States, responsible for one in three deaths. Heart disease in women can often present with non-traditional symptoms that aren鈥檛 present in men.
Without proper awareness, education and skillfully trained physicians, the symptoms may get overlooked or easily dismissed, leading to delayed care and worse outcomes. Heart disease impacts some women at higher rates than others, but most heart diseases can still be prevented with education and healthy lifestyle changes.
Dr. Gladys Velarde, FACC, FAHA, of 萝莉社 Jacksonville, explains the importance of continued research and education when it comes to understanding women and heart disease.
Why is heart health important, especially for women?
Heart disease remains the leading cause of death in women in the United States. It accounts for approximately one in every three deaths among women each year. This makes it a far greater threat than people may realize. Yet awareness, recognition and timely treatment in women continues to lag behind those of men.
What are signs of a heart attack in a woman vs. a man?
Classic symptoms of heart attack such as chest pain and pressure occur in both women and men. However, women are more likely to experience additional or less typical symptoms, which can make it more challenging to recognize.
Women may present with more unusual or overwhelming fatigue. They may also experience shortness of breath, discomfort in the neck or jaw, pain in the upper back or shoulders, nausea or indigestion-like symptoms.
Because these symptoms can be subtle or sometimes attributed to stress, anxiety or depression, it takes an attentive well-trained clinician to peel back those layers and diagnose properly. The additional symptoms may cause classic chest pain to be overlooked.
How can heart disease be prevented in women?
The foundation of prevention is rooted in healthy lifestyle choices and aggressive management of risk factors. Women can experience unique life stages and conditions that can increase their future cardiovascular risk.
These can include changes in hormones, early or premature menopause, infertility treatments, obesity and pregnancy related complications such as preeclampsia or gestational diabetes. There can be accelerated risk of heart disease after menopause.
Recognizing these sex-specific risk factors allows clinicians to identify women who are at higher risk earlier and intervene before the disease becomes clinically apparent.
What are some common myths about heart disease?
Some of the most common ones are:
- Heart disease is a man鈥檚 disease. This is false. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in women.
- Women are protected from heart disease until they鈥檙e older. This is false. Cardiovascular disease begins much earlier in life and can be unmasked by pregnant related or metabolic conditions previously mentioned.
What are some risk factors for women and heart disease?
Heart disease results from a combination of modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors. But it鈥檚 important to realize 80% of cardiovascular disease is preventable. This means modifiable risk factors have a lot more impact than non-modifiable factors.
Major modifiable risk factors include high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, hyperglycemia (high sugar) and obesity, smoking and physical inactivity. These modifiable risk factors if recognized can be treated.
Diabetes, smoking and elevated triglycerides confirm a relative higher cardiovascular risk in women than it does men. Inflammatory conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis or lupus, which are more prevalent in women, are also associated with increased cardiovascular risk. Adverse pregnancy outcomes are now recognized as early markers of future heart disease.
While genetic factors play a role, they account for a smaller portion of cardiovascular disease.
Women are disproportionately affected by several forms of cardiovascular disease that reflects differences in the underlying biology of the coronary vessels. Some of these include coronary microvascular dysfunction, spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) and takasubo, a stress-induced cardiomyopathy. These conditions are far more common in women than men.
What makes the 萝莉社 Jacksonville heart program unique?
Our heart program at 萝莉社 Jacksonville is unique because it鈥檚 built around three core missions:
- Community education: empowering women with knowledge about cardiovascular health through programs like Prime of Your Life.
- Peer education training: training clinicians to recognize and manage sex-specific cardiovascular risks.
- Comprehensive clinical care: preventative cardiology, cardiometabolic care, cardio-OB services in collaboration with our OBGYN partners and maternal and fetal medicine.
We also actively conduct and participate in sex-specific cardiovascular research. We want to position our program as a unique, vital resource for women in our region.
We call on women to know their numbers, know their risks and advocate for their heart health at every stage of life. It鈥檚 never too early. Also, it鈥檚 important that clinicians, health systems and policy makers recognize that women鈥檚 heart disease is not the same as men鈥檚 and invest in education, research and care models that reflect those differences. Awareness saves lives and action really is needed to help change outcomes.
To learn more about our women鈥檚 cardiovascular program visit: Heart disease in women - 萝莉社 Jacksonville
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