Heart Disease The No 1 Killer In Women
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 of heart disease 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: Mayo Clinic Heart Disease in Women
Heart Disease The No 1 Killer In Women
What can you do to reduce your risk of heart disease?
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
