Know Your Risk Before It Strikes
Your arteries could be hiding early disease. Find out today.
Knowledge is power. The more women know about women and cardiovascular disease, the better their chances are for avoiding or beating it. CVD, which includes heart disease and stroke, now accounts for one out of three deaths among women — more than all forms of cancer combined.
Despite proven strategies to detect CVD at the earliest, most easily treatable stages, women and heart disease remain an underdiagnosed crisis. Many women with arterial disease are not diagnosed until they have already suffered a heart attack or stroke. Rates of heart attacks and strokes are rising among younger women.
What’s going on — and what do women of all ages need to know to protect themselves from their no. 1 health threat? Here’s a look at some key takeaways from the latest research on women’s heart health, plus a potentially lifesaving action plan, drawn from Dr. Amy Doneen’s 2021 Women’s Heart Health Webinar.
Fact: Women are being identified as high risk after a heart attack or stroke.
Screening methods are now available to detect silent cardiovascular disease before it becomes severe. Our advice is, “Be bold — ask for the test.” It is important — and potentially lifesaving — to advocate for yourself because women and cardiovascular disease remain underdiagnosed and undertreated.
Fact: Rates of heart attacks and strokes are rising among women under age 55.
Once viewed as mainly occurring in older men, heart attacks are now striking younger people, especially women. A recent study in Circulation found the percentage of younger female patients has risen sharply. From the start to the end of the study, the rate of heart attacks rose from 21% to 31% in women ages 35 to 53.
The study also found that after a heart attack, young women were less likely than men to receive treatments recommended by current medical guidelines. This includes cholesterol-lowering statins, beta blockers, and other heart medications. Women also had a higher rate of repeat cardiovascular events. This shows the dangers of medical bias in treatment.
Fact: Women have different heart attack symptoms than men do.
A study of younger heart attack survivors found women had a higher number of non-chest symptoms. Heart attack symptoms women experience include nausea, stomach pain, esophageal pressure, burning, shortness of breath, and anxiety.
Many women had sought care for these symptoms before their heart attack, but over half were told their symptoms were not heart-related. Women can develop early warning signs days, weeks, or months before a heart attack. These include unusual fatigue, sleep disturbances, and unexplained anxiety.
At the time of a heart attack, common symptoms in women include shortness of breath, abdominal pain, and heavy sweating. Having any of these symptoms warrants an immediate call to 911. Prompt treatment could save your life.
Fact: 64% of women who die suddenly from a heart attack didn’t know they had CVD.
Women remain underdiagnosed and undertreated for the disease most likely to kill them. We recommend a three-step action plan for heart disease prevention women:
- Look for plaque early with imaging tests such as a coronary artery calcium scan or carotid intima media thickness ultrasound.
- Check for artery inflammation using blood and urine tests for inflammatory biomarkers.
- Identify root causes of arterial disease beyond cholesterol.
Fact: Insulin resistance is the root cause of 70% of heart attacks and many strokes.
Prediabetes affects 70% of people with heart disease and 50% of those who have had a stroke. Of those with prediabetes, 84% are undiagnosed. This raises the risk for developing women and cardiovascular disease later in life.
Lifestyle changes like weight loss, better diet, and regular exercise can reverse prediabetes. Other causes of heart disease risk factors women face include vitamin D deficiency, high blood pressure, autoimmune disease, nicotine exposure, and periodontal disease.
Menopause & heart risk is another factor that must be considered. Hormonal changes can affect cholesterol, blood pressure, and vascular health, increasing CVD risk in women after menopause.
To learn more about female-specific root causes — and red flags that signal increased risk — watch Dr. Doneen’s women’s heart health webinar. As Dr. Doneen reports, “We must prioritize our heart health and we realize that we can change the current statistics of heart disease and stroke for women. We must advocate for our daughters, nieces, granddaughters, sisters, mothers and grandmothers.”
FAQs
What are early signs of heart issues in women?
Unusual fatigue, shortness of breath, sleep disturbances, nausea, and anxiety.
What are the 5 habits women need to avoid to have a healthy heart?
Smoking, poor diet, inactivity, ignoring symptoms, and unmanaged stress.
What is the #1 killer in women?
Cardiovascular disease.
What is the silent killer in women?
High blood pressure and undiagnosed heart disease.
About the Author: Ed Price
