Heart disease is the number one cause of death in women.

 

This is a terribly misunderstood subject and very few people are well informed about this #1 risk to women’s lives. If you are a woman, or love a woman, please sit up and pay attention. I was shocked to find no one on HubPages has written anything about this.

 

The following is a summation of my own research and personal experience with women heart attack victims. I drew heavily on data provided by the American Heart Association, The Cleveland Clinic, Mayo Clinic and interviews with practicing cardiologists.

 

According to the highly regarded Cleveland Clinic, “cardiovascular disease is the Number 1 killer of women over age 25 in the United States, regardless of race or ethnicity.

The death rate from cardiovascular diseases has decreased among men, but continues to increase in women.”

 

A Woman Cardiologist Explains Clearly the Signs, Symptoms and Risk Factors Involved in a Woman's Heart Attack

http://www.howdini.com/howdini-video-6657688.html

The Cold, Hard Facts

• More than 8,000,000 American women are living with heart disease.

• Very few of them are aware that they have a life threatening disease.

• 1 in 4 women has some form of cardiovascular disease.

• Heart disease is the cause of death in over a third of women’s fatalities. That is, “1 in 3 American women dies from heart disease.”

• Heart disease kills almost 500,000 women each year. That's about one death every minute.

• Since 1984, the number of female deaths from heart disease has exceeded that of males.

• Cardiovascular disease is even more pronounced among minority women.

• “In 2002 in the United States, 49 percent of all female deaths occurred from coronary heart disease (CHD)." (Cleveland Clinic).

• 38 percent of women compared to 25 percent of men will die within one year of having a heart attack. (American Heart Ass'n.)

• Coronary heart disease rates in women after menopause are 2 to 3 times higher than those of women the same age before menopause.

• Most women (64 %) who die suddenly of heart disease had no previous symptoms.

The Typical Male Heart Attack Model Does Not Apply to Heart Attacks in Women

Much of the practice of medicine, including in the area of heart disease, has focused on the “typical male patient.” This attitude persists, despite the fact that that when a woman has a heart attack, even the first one, it is more often fatal than a man’s heart attack.

This diagnostic problem is compounded by the fact that most women who die of a heart attack had no previous symptoms.

Widespread ignorance about heart disease in women causes hundreds of thousands of preventable deaths each year among women.

The Most Common Symptoms of Heart Attack in Women Are:

• Shortness of breath

• Weakness

• Unusual fatigue

• Cold sweat

• Dizziness

• Pain or pressure in the back or high chest

• Aches, pain or discomfort in one or both arms

• The discomfort may be described as a feeling of pressure, an ache, or a tightness, which may come and go

• A feeling of acute indigestion, or a burning sensation in the sternum, chest or upper abdomen

• Tachycardia (Irregular heartbeat)

• The sensation of nausea or the urge to vomit

Women often ignore these symptoms because they do not fit the customary (male) model for heart attacks. Worse, some doctors ignore these symptoms as well. Also many women ignore these symptoms because they are somewhat similar to other minor non-life threatening conditions.

High Risk Groups for Cardiovascular Disease in Women:

· Post menopausal women

· Smokers

· Obese women

· Women who have a sedentary lifestyle

· Women who have a family history of heart disease

· Women who eat a fat rich diet

Ladies and Grrrls of all ages: Go to your doctor and tell her/him you want to be screened for heart disease. Twenty-five percent of you have it and most of you don't know it! Don't wait for that first heart attack to inform you, because you may not survive it. Cholesterol levels, blood pressure, physical stress tests, EKGs and certain blood tests will give you and your doctor the information to dodge this deadly bullet and to live longer, healthier lives.

Don't wait. Heart attacks (and strokes) have their own timetable and you are not privvy to their scheduled appearances.

Don't wait. Make an appointment tomorrow.