Heart Disease The No 1 Killer In Women – Managing Cholesterol & Diabetes
Heart Disease The No 1 Killer In Women
The number one killer for women in America and across the developed world is still cardiovascular disease, but the great news is that 90% of heart disease can be prevented by controlling things like your blood pressure or diabetes risk, your cholesterol, and not smoking.
Heart disease or more particularly, cardiovascular disease, is the hardening of the arteries whether you are talking about arteries in your heart or arteries in your brain.
Arteriosclerosis which is the hardening of the arteries is caused by things like high blood pressure, cholesterol, smoking, and diabetes.
Early signs of heart disease
Many women don’t have any of the symptoms associated with heart disease until it becomes an emergency such as a heart attack.
Symptoms may include:
- Chest pain or pressure, which can be either sharp, or dull and heavy
- Neck, jaw, shoulder, upper back or abdominal aches and pains
- Shortness of breath
- Pain in one or both arms
- Nausea or vomiting
- Sweating
- Light-headedness or dizziness
- Unusual fatigue
- Indigestion
- General weakness
- Changes in skin colour, such as greyish skin
These symptoms may occur more often when resting or asleep than during daily activities.
Emotional stress also plays a part in triggering heart attacks in women.
Source:
mayoclinic.org –Heart Disease in Women
Heart Disease The No 1 Killer In Women
What can you do to reduce your risk of heart disease?
Follow these tips for a heart-healthy lifestyle:
Get enough sleep
If you are getting too little sleep on a regular basis, it can put you at a higher risk of heart disease.
Poor sleep can hurt your heart by increasing stress levels, being less motivated to be physically active, and making unhealthy food choices.
Quit smoking
If you don’t smoke, don’t start. Try to avoid exposure to second-hand smoke, which also can damage blood vessels.
Exercise regularly
Moderate exercise, such as walking at a brisk pace, jogging, or cycling can go a long way to keeping your heart healthy.
Maintain a healthy weight
If you are overweight, losing excess weight can lower blood pressure and reduce the risk of diabetes.
Eat a healthy diet
Choose a diet that contains whole grains, fruits, vegetables, low-fat dairy products, and lean meats.
Avoid foods that are processed or contain added sugars, too much salt, saturated or trans fats.
Manage your stress
Too much stress can increase your risk of heart disease by causing your arteries to tighten.
Limit alcohol
Cut back on daily alcohol consumption, one drink per day is sufficient.
Keep a handle on other health conditions
- High blood pressure can lead to heart attack, stroke, kidney failure and heart failure
- High cholesterol increases your risk for heart disease. Know and understand your LDL and HDL cholesterol numbers
- Diabetes increases the risk of heart attacks or strokes five times more in women with diabetes
Source:
mayoclinic.org – heart disease in women
Heart disease risk factors you can’t control
Age
As you get older, your risk for heart disease increases, especially after 55.
Before menopause, estrogen helps to maintain adequate levels of HDL (good) cholesterol.
Menopause usually occurs around the age of 50 and brings on an increase in LDL (bad) cholesterol levels.
Estrogen also works to relax the smooth muscle of the arteries, maintaining normal blood pressure and preventing some form of blood vessel damage.
After menopause, the rate of cardiovascular-related deaths steadily increases in women.
Heredity
Your family history and genes play an important role in your risk of developing heart disease, making you more likely to develop heart disease or stroke.
Added to this, you are at an even higher risk of heart disease if either your father or brother had “early heart disease”, before they were 55, or a mother or sister before they were 65.
Race
African-Americans are at a higher risk of heart disease because they are more prone to high blood pressure than Caucasians.
African-American women are also more likely to die of heart disease than Caucasian women and Hispanic women can start heart disease nearly 10 years earlier than Caucasian women.
History of heart attack & stroke
If you have previously had a heart attack, you are at higher risk of having a second one.
22% of women ages 40 to 69 who survive their first heart attack are very likely to have a fatal heart attack or stroke within 5 years.
Source:
heart.org – heart disease uncontrollable risk factors
Understanding Cholesterol
Your cholesterol level is something that always comes up whenever your health is called into question.
Because of this, the fatty substance has gained a negative reputation.
While high cholesterol is bad for you, fat is not something that is just there to harm your body.
But where does cholesterol come from and where and why is it present inside the body?
Let’s take a look at where cholesterol is found.
Cholesterol present in the human body comes from two sources:
Production inside the liver and from the food that you eat.
80% of all cholesterol present inside the body is produced by its liver organs and cells.
The remaining 20% comes from the food you eat.
What happens to cholesterol in the body?
The food you ingest gets broken down in the digestive system, with the cholesterol and fats being digested in the small intestine.
They are combined with lipases, bile salts, and other compounds before they are sent throughout the body for storage.
A fair amount of cholesterol is stored by the liver and the gall bladder.
Most of it is stored by adipocytes, the fat cells responsible for holding excess lipoproteins.
When your diet is imbalanced towards carbohydrates and fats, the adipocytes enlarge and you gain weight.
Foods that are rich in trans or saturated fats tend to increase blood cholesterol levels and increase them to unhealthy amounts.
The liver tries to make up for it by decreasing its cholesterol production but that can only do so much.
Alternatively, some people inherit genes that impair the liver’s cholesterol production facilities, which can lead to unhealthy imbalances in cholesterol levels.
Source:
health.harvard.edu – Cholesterol production in your body
Are there different types of cholesterol?
There are two types of cholesterol:
Low-density lipoprotein or LDL and high-density liberal protein HDL.
LDL cholesterol is known as the bad type of cholesterol
It is the one that ends up lining your arteries and clogging them.
HDL cholesterol on the other hand is vital for the body
It transports the bad cholesterol to the liver which ultimately removes it from the bloodstream.
Ideally, the HDL cholesterol in your body will far outnumber the LDL cholesterol.
Source:
heart.org – HDL (Good), LDL (Bad) Cholesterol
Foods that raise LDL cholesterol levels
The foods that are ultimately responsible for giving you unhealthy cholesterol levels due to more LDL include food items high in saturated fats such as:
- Red meat, such as beef pork or lamb
- Full fat or whole dairy products
- Processed foods
- Deli foods
- Baked goods
- Food items high in trans fats such as margarine fried food
- Crackers cookies cakes and microwave popcorn
You need to avoid or limit these foods in your regular diet.
Foods rich in HDL cholesterol, the good cholesterol, include:
- Tofu and other soy-rich food items
- Fatty fish such as salmon
- Nuts especially walnuts
- Olive oil
- Flax seeds and chia seeds
- Legumes and beans
- Avocado
- Whole grains
- High fiber fruit
- Red wine
Type 2 Diabetes & Menopause
Menopause is that time in your life when your estrogen levels drop, your ovaries stop producing eggs, and your menstrual cycle ends.
Typically, women start menopause in their 40s or 50s.
The onset of Type 2 diabetes usually starts after age 45.
Your body makes less of the hormones estrogen and progesterone, the hormones responsible for regulating your periods.
This also affects how your cells respond to insulin, the hormone that moves glucose from your bloodstream into your cells.
This can lead to the following changes:
Changes in blood sugar level
A drop in estrogen and progesterone levels can trigger fluctuations in your blood sugar levels.
You may notice that your blood sugar levels fluctuate more than before.
If your blood sugar levels get out of control, you are at a greater risk of diabetes complications.
Weight gain
Weight gain is common during the menopausal transition.
Much of the weight gain is in your abdominal area.
Increased belly fat makes your body more resistant to the effects of insulin.
UTI and vaginal infections
As estrogen levels drop, it makes it easier for bacteria and yeast to thrive in the urinary tract and vagina.
Sleep problems
Hot flushes and night sweats may keep you up at night, depriving you of sleep, which can make it harder to manage your blood sugar levels.
Sexual problems
Diabetes can cause the nerves of the cells that line the vagina to be damaged, making sexual stimulation and arousal difficult.
Less vaginal lubricant is produced, causing pain during sex.
Managing your diabetes
Below are guidelines as how to manage your diabetes better
Manage blood sugar
It is important to keep your blood sugar levels in your target range to keep serious health problems at bay.
Having balanced blood sugar levels can also help improve your energy levels and mood.
Adjust your diabetes medication
Hormone changes and weight gain can cause your blood sugar to rise.
You may need to adjust your medication dose or add another medication to keep your levels steady.
Eat well and maintain a healthy weight
During menopause, eating well and staying active are more important than ever, especially for managing diabetes.
Gaining weight is normal during menopause making it even harder to manage your diabetes.
Eating healthily and regularly helps to keep your blood sugar to stay in your target range.
Your diet should include a variety of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean protein, and low-fat dairy.
Get active
Physical activity helps control blood sugar levels and lowers your risk of heart disease and nerve damage.
Check your heart health
Cardiovascular disease is more common in people with type 2 diabetes. After menopause, your heart disease risk also increases.
It’s important to do everything you can to manage heart disease risks.
- Eat a healthy diet
- Exercise
- Lose weight if you’re overweight
- Quit smoking
- Check your blood pressure often
- Have regular cholesterol checks
Monitor your stress levels
Your nervous system is more stressed during menopause and can make managing diabetes harder, including managing your blood sugar levels.
Hormone therapy
Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) can help manage several menopausal symptoms including hot flashes, night sweats, and vaginal dryness.
Research indicates that HRT also improves insulin sensitivity in people with type 2 diabetes.
Ask your doctor if HRT will be suitable for you, as there are some risks involved.
Be aware of UTIs
If you have symptoms such as an urgent need to go, burning when you pee, or foul-smelling urine, it could be due to a drop in estrogen, which further increases your risk of infection.
A drop in estrogen causes changes in blood sugar levels which create an environment that’s favorable to the bacteria that cause urinary tract infections (UTIs).
Source
menopause.org – diabetes hits women hard at menopause
mayoclinic.org – diabetes and menopause a twin challenge
uristat.com – diabetes and UTIs
cdc.gov – Type 2 Diabetes | CDC
