More Information

Heart disease is often perceived as an “older woman's disease,” and is the leading cause of death among women 65 and older. However, heart disease is the third leading cause of death among women 25-44 years old and the second leading cause of death among women 45-64 years old. And, while many people might think of breast cancer as the primary cause of death for women, according to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, one in three American women will die of heart disease, making it the No. 1 killer of women.

Understanding the causes of heart disease and how to control modifiable risk factors is an important step for women in successfully managing their health. While advancing age and family history are uncontrollable, women can reduce their risk of heart disease by knowing what aspects of their lifestyles affect heart health – and learning how to manage them.

Women & Heart Disease – Prevention Information:

• Heart Disease – How Women’s Cardiac Symptoms Differ from Men

• Stroke – Symptoms, Treatment and Recovery

• Heart Attack – Know Your Signs & Symptoms

• Cholesterol – It’s Not Just a Man’s Problem

• High Blood Pressure – Know Your Signs & Symptoms

• Menopause, Hormone Replacement Therapy & Heart Disease

Heart Disease – How Women’s Cardiac Symptoms Differ from Men

For many years the medical community has considered women to be smaller versions of men, affecting medication dosage and more evaluation of various treatments. But women are not small men, and when it comes to cardiac symptoms, it’s especially clear. Men more often experience what we think of as “typical” symptoms: chest pain, radiating pain in the arms, etc. Women may have back pain or discomfort that many might associate with digestive issues rather than a cardiac emergency. Pay attention to your body and know what’s out of the ordinary for you. If something doesn’t feel right, seek medical attention.

Both men and women have heart attacks, but more women who have heart attacks die from them. Treatments can limit heart damage but they must be given as soon as possible after a heart attack starts. Ideally, treatment should start within one hour of the first symptoms. 

The most common heart attack symptoms are chest pain, radiating pain in one or both arms, excessive sweating and shortness of breath. Despite that, many women experience much different warning signs, such as chest pressure or tightness, indigestion-like symptoms, or back and abdominal pain. Women should take mild chest pain seriously and suspect a heart attack could be the cause. Some women having a heart attack may not experience chest pain at all, but rather “atypical” symptoms such as:

- Back, neck, or jaw pain  

- Dizziness  

- Lightheadedness

- Nausea

- Fatigue

- Vomiting

- Weakness

Women who experience these less-typical symptoms need to seek medical advice. Your doctor can help determine if these are related to cardiac problems.

 Heart Disease Resources:

Preventing Cardiovascular Disease

Newsletters on Cardiovascular Disease

Cardiovascular Disease – What You Need to Know

Heart Healthy Eating to Lower Your Risk of Heart Disease

Stroke – Symptoms, Treatment and Recovery

Heart Attack – Know Your Signs and Symptoms

Heart attack. It’s a subject you probably don’t want to consider. But, if you learn the signs and symptoms, you could save a life one day. And that life could be yours or the life of someone you love.

What are the signs of heart attack?

Many people think heart attack comes on suddenly and dramatically, with crippling, intense chest discomfort that is immediately identifiable. The truth is, many heart attacks begin slowly, as non-specific mild pain or discomfort. Symptoms can be so subtle – or so transient – that you may not suspect anything is wrong.

Even people who have had heart attacks in the past may not recognize the signs of an impending heart attack. Warning signs before each individual event can be so different even people with heart attack experience may be unable to tell that they are in the process of a recurrence.

Women may believe that the protective effect of estrogen reduces heart attack risk for a lifetime. It does not. After menopause, a woman’s risk of heart attack will equal that of a man, but women – many unaccustomed to thinking about heart disease – may fail to recognize their symptoms, or may experience symptoms that don’t strongly suggest a cardiac event. These can include generalized back pain, indigestion-type symptoms or even no symptoms at all. The delay in treatment that results can cause preventable injury or death.

Whether you’re a man or woman, pay attention to your body and understand what is usual – and what is suspicious. If a warning sign or symptom just doesn’t seem right, seek medical attention immediately.

The best defense against the risk of heart attack is practicing a program of primary prevention – managing diet, exercise, stress, tobacco use. Managing cholesterol, blood pressure and lifestyle can significantly reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Heart Attack Information:

Heart Attack – Signs & Symptoms

Chest Pain – Symptoms of a Heart Attack?

Heart Attack Information

The latest topics in the news concerning heart attack and heart disease

Heart Healthy Eating to Lower Your Risk of a Heart Attack

Cholesterol – It’s Not Just a Man’s Problem

High cholesterol isn’t just a man’s problem – it affects women, too. In fact, the presence of estrogen alone raises women’s HDL (good) cholesterol levels higher than men’s.

Although young women tend to have lower cholesterol levels than young men, women’s levels begin to rise higher between the ages of 45 and 55. The gap becomes wider still in women 55 and older. And, the higher a woman’s blood cholesterol level, the greater her chance of developing heart disease, even though later in life a woman’s overall risk is lower than a man’s.

Physicians recommend keeping your total cholesterol level—the combined LDL and HDL numbers—at 200 mg/dL or below. However, some factors may prompt your physician to determine that reaching a lower LDL is right for you. Women with coronary heart disease (CHD) or an increased risk for CHD may aim for an LDL of 130 or lower. An LDL level of 100 or even below 70 has been shown in studies to help women with the highest level of risk for a heart attack. Always consult your physician for a diagnosis.

The National Heart, Blood and Lung Institute recommend LDL (bad) cholesterol-lowering drug therapy for most women with heart disease. Drug therapy should be combined with a proper diet that’s low in saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol and sodium, while rich in fruits, vegetables, low-fat dairy and whole-grain, high-fiber foods. The Institute also recommends women manage their weight, get regular physical activity and not smoke.

More information on Cholesterol:

Cholesterol Information

Cholesterol in the Blood – what does it mean?

Nutrition – How you can lower your cholesterol

The latest topics in the news about Cholesterol

Heart Healthy Eating to Lower Your Cholesterol

What is blood pressure?

Blood pressure is defined as the force of the blood pushing against the artery walls. Each time the heart beats, it pumps blood into the arteries, resulting in the highest blood pressure as the heart contracts. Blood pressure is measured with a cuff and stethoscope by a nurse or other health care provider. One cannot take his or her own blood pressure unless an electronic blood pressure monitoring device is used. Electronic blood pressure monitors may also measure the heart rate, or pulse.

Two numbers are recorded when measuring blood pressure. The higher number, or systolic pressure, refers to the pressure inside the artery when the heart contracts and pumps blood through the body. The lower number, or diastolic pressure, refers to the pressure inside the artery when the heart is at rest and is filling with blood. Both the systolic and diastolic pressures are recorded as “mm Hg” (millimeters of mercury). This recording represents how high the mercury column is raised by the pressure of the blood.

What is high blood pressure?

High blood pressure, or hypertension, directly increases the risk of coronary heart disease (heart attack) and stroke. With high blood pressure, the arteries may have an increased resistance against the flow of blood, causing the heart to pump harder to circulate the blood.

Blood pressure is considered normal at less than 120 mm Hg systolic pressure and less than 80 mm Hg diastolic pressure. High blood pressure is defined as a systolic pressure of greater than or equal to 140 mm Hg or greater than or equal to 90 mm Hg diastolic pressure.

Factors that contribute to high blood pressure.

Medical science doesn’t understand why most cases of high blood pressure occur, so it’s hard to say how to prevent it. However, we do know that several factors may contribute to high blood pressure and raise your risk for heart attack and stroke.

Controllable risk factors:

• Obesity

• Eating too much salt

• Drinking too much alcohol

• Lack of physical activity

• Stress

Uncontrollable risk factors:

• African-American ethnicity

• Family history of hypertension

• Increasing age

What are the health risks associated with high blood pressure?

High blood pressure can hurt your body in many ways. It adds to the workload of your heart and arteries. Because your heart works harder than normal for a long time, it tends to get bigger. A slightly bigger heart may work well, but if it’s enlarged very much, it may have a hard time meeting your body’s demands.

High blood pressure is the No. 1 modifiable risk factor for stroke. It also contributes to heart attacks, heart failure, kidney failure and atherosclerosis (fatty buildups in arteries). In some cases, it can cause blindness. The relationship of blood pressure levels to the risk of cardiovascular disease is continuous, consistent and independent of other risk factors. That means the higher your blood pressure, the greater your risk of heart attack, heart failure, stroke and kidney disease.

How is high blood pressure controlled?

Many people can control high blood pressure by:

• choosing foods that are low in sodium (salt)

• choosing foods low in calories and fat

• choosing foods high in starch and fiber

• maintaining a healthy weight, or losing weight if overweight

• limiting serving sizes

• increasing physical activity

• practicing moderation if consuming alcoholic beverages

When these measures prove ineffective, people must take daily medication to control hypertension. People with hypertension should routinely have their blood pressure checked and be under the care of a physician.

More information on high blood pressure:

High Blood Pressure Information

Stress and High Blood Pressure

Heart Healthy Eating to Lower Your Blood Pressure

Menopause, Hormone Replacement Therapy & Heart Disease

Menopause – the cessation of regular menstrual cycles and gradual shutdown of ovarian function – typically begins around age 50, and can cause uncomfortable side effects for many women, including hot flashes, vaginal dryness, sleep disturbances, night sweats, mood swings, decreased sexual interest, headaches and other symptoms.

Some women find relief with the use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT), which is available orally or as a cream or a transdermal patch. However, HRT carries cardiac risks that must be carefully considered. Alla Chapman, MD, who specializes in family medicine, explains, “I help each of my patients weigh the benefits of treatments against the risks. If a patient’s menopause symptoms are so disruptive to her life that HRT is clearly indicated, then it’s typically worth it to try treatment. But if she has mild symptoms, it may be advisable to wait and see if they lessen on their own as menopause progresses.”

In the past, HRT was prescribed for some women not only to reduce menopausal symptoms but also because it was thought to reduce their risk of heart attack and stroke.

Recent clinical studies have since shown that HRT in women with heart disease does not decrease risk of cardiovascular complications, but instead actually increases the risk of death. The American Heart Association now recommends that HRT not be prescribed solely to reduce the risk of cardiac complications, but rather to mitigate menopausal symptoms. Women who develop cardiac problems while on HRT should consider stopping HRT.

More information on Hormone Replacement Therapy and its relation to Heart Disease:

Estrogen’s Effect on the Female Body

Hormone Replacement Therapy

Women’s Health Information