Women and Heart Disease
While heart disease is the number one killer of women in the United States, the American Heart Association says women often accumulate risk factors from
less life-threatening conditions like acid reflux, flu or
aging. Many women think the signs of a heart attack
are unmistakable but they can often be subtle and
misinterpreted.
“If you are looking for a
comforting breakfast, start
your day off with oatmeal for
an instant boost of fiber. It also
helps prevent heart disease.”
— Dr. DeNeen, Invasive NonInterventional Cardiologist
FCCI
The first and most important step in preventing heart
disease is to stop using all forms of tobacco and any
form of nicotine. Patients, both male and female, are
seen coming in at an increasingly young age with
serious heart concerns. Patients who have heart
attacks in their 30s or 40s are likely to carry several
risk factors such as a stong family history or being
diabetic, but will also be strongly likely to be tobacco
users.
Prevention against heart disease includes staying
physically active for a minimum of 30 minutes at
least five days a week and following a sensible diet.
Know your risk factors and keep those risk factors
well controlled. A healthy, active lifestyle will often
help reduce these factors.
A major question women may have is what risk factors are involved in the occurence of heart disease.
There are certain uncontrollable risk factors such as
heredity, gender, and age. Having 1st degree relatives
with early heart disease is a red flag. Early heart disease is defined as a male under the age of 55 with a
condition or a female under the age of 65.
Statistically speaking, once men are older that 55
and women are older than 65 the risk of heart disease increases. Women who experience early menopause, defined as occuring prior to the age of 46
years old, have a higher risk.
The other risk factors are considered controllable.
Our lifestyle can improve or eradicate these risks
all together. The risk factors include tobacco and
nicotine use, sedentary lifestyle, obesity, hypertension, high LDL (bad cholesterol) and low HDL (good
cholesterol) and diabetes.
The next question to arise is when women should
be checked for heart disease. If you are experiencing any symptoms such as a chest pain or pressure,
difficulty breathing, or a change in your ability to do
your normal activities, you should be checked immediately.
Practice
Update
We’re excited to introduce Vastal Inamdar, MD,
specializing in electrophysiology and Ameeth
Vedre, MD, specializing in
cardiovascular disease to
the First Coast Cardiovascular Institute team! FCCI
offers unparalleled medical
expertise by highly trained
cardiovascular specialists
and is committed to providing you an unwavering
standard of excellence in
the diagnosis, treatment
and prevention of Heart &
Vascular disease.
There are guidelines for when cardiovascular risk factors should be evaluated. Blood pressure screenings,
evaluation of lipids (cholesterol, LDL, HDL) should
start in your 20s. Without symptoms there are not
definitive age cutoffs that dictate when it is time for
a stress test or more invasive evaluation such as an
angiogram. For example, a very active 75-year-old
woman without symptoms whose risk factor is her
age may not need a full evaluation. A 45-year-old
woman who uses tobacco, is diabetic and hypertensive with abnormal lipids, and is now having a harder
time climbing the steps should be evaluated. For
anyone in between, this is where the art of medicine
comes in.
Talk to your physician if you have concerns and together you can evaluate where your own particular
mix of history and symptoms puts you on the spectrum of heart disease risk.
Copyright © 2013 First Coast Cardiovascular Institute, P.A. All rights reserved.