Heart disease has been the leading cause of death for women in the U.S. for decades — it currently kills about one out of every five women. But, for many years, people thought that women didn’t need to worry about heart disease, so research, education and awareness campaigns were mainly focused on men.
Because of this, doctors didn’t fully understand how heart disease affected women, making diagnoses hard, and women didn’t think to watch out for heart disease.
“Bikini medicine is the kind of medical approach, which says “women’s health” is only reproductive health, that it only has to do with uteruses, ovaries, and mammary glands, hence the term referring to bikini areas,” Rachel Bond, MD, Medical Director of Women’s Heart Health at Dignity Health East Valley says. “Therefore, although heart disease is the female’s greatest risk, both patient and clinician alike may not realize this. This narrative NEEDS to be changed.”
If you’re a woman, you’re probably wondering what you should consider when it comes to heart disease. The good news is that more research and information are coming out about how heart disease risk factors and symptoms affect women specifically.
Risk Factors Among Men and Women
“Men and women share several risk factors for heart disease,” says Bond. A few shared risk factors include:
- Family History: In a first degree relative
- Hypertension
- Hyperlipidemia
- Diabetes Mellitus: A group of diseases that affect how your body uses blood sugar
- Being Overweight/Obese
- Sedentary Lifestyle
- Smoking
- Poor Eating Habits
Risk Factors That Affect Women
- Diabetes: Diabetes can damage blood vessels, raise blood pressure and is linked to obesity, which all increase the risk of heart disease. “Diabetes doubles the risk of heart disease in men, but it triples the risk for women,” Bond says.
- Cholesterol: There are four numbers to track with cholesterol: LDL, HDL, total cholesterol and triglycerides.
“The greatest predictor of heart disease at this time is the level of LDL (“bad” cholesterol) and now recent data suggests the level of triglycerides as well,” Bond says. “Routinely, we do not focus on a specific number, as opposed to a cumulative risk when focusing on primary prevention.”
- Age/Menopause: Estrogen can lower the risk of heart disease, but estrogen levels decrease after menopause, which is why women tend to be older when they get heart disease. On average, women get heart disease 10 years later than men.
“Early menopause prior to the age of 45 years and an early menstrual period prior to the age of 12 years old can also increase your risk,” Bond says.
- Adverse Pregnancy Conditions: Bond says hypertensive disorders of pregnancy including Preeclampsia and Eclampsia, which are complications caused by high blood pressure during pregnancy, can all increase a woman’s risk for heart disease.
Another condition is gestational diabetes, a type of diabetes that is first seen in a pregnant woman who did not have diabetes before she was pregnant.
Preterm delivery, small for gestational age infant, high parity, and frequent miscarriages are other pregnancy-related risk factors that are important for women to be aware of.
- Smoking: Smokers are four times as likely to get heart disease as non-smokers because smoking can cause blood clots, raise blood pressure and damage blood vessels.
“A female who is a smoker has a 25% greater risk of experiencing heart disease than a male who smokes the same number of cigarettes for the same duration of time.”
- Obesity: “Obesity increases the risk of heart disease by 46% in men, and increases a woman’s risk by 64%,” Bond says.
Keep in mind that there are many other factors that contribute to heart disease, like cancer treatments and chronic illnesses that disproportionately affect women. Talking to your doctor is the best way to figure out which risk factors apply to you and how you can manage that risk.
Symptoms
One of the main concerns with women and heart disease is recognizing symptoms.
“Patients and doctors alike need to understand women’s risks and be highly concerned with symptoms to receive timely care.”
1. Heart attacks: Happen when blood flow to your heart is blocked. The “classic” heart attack symptom is chest pain.
“One-third of the time a woman will have had no chest pain. She may experience fatigue, shortness of breath, nausea, profuse sweating, and back, shoulder, or neck pain,” Bond says.
2. Angina: Chest discomfort that you can get when an artery in your heart becomes narrow enough to reduce blood flow to your heart. The most common symptom of angina is episodes of chest pain or discomfort.
But women can experience pain elsewhere, such as the abdomen, or they can just experience breathlessness, nausea or vomiting. And if angina sounds similar to a heart attack, it’s because it can be an early warning sign for the diseases that cause heart attacks.
3. Subtle Symptoms:“Men and women should both be aware of the subtle symptoms such as ongoing fatigue, sleep disturbance, and shortness of breath, which can sometimes be red flags that a cardiac condition is pending,” Bond says. “You have to have a heightened awareness of your body and understand if something doesn’t feel right, it’s probably not.”
The bottom line is to make sure you are paying attention to anything that feels off or wrong and talking to your doctor.
“It’s very important you see a primary physician at least once a year for a wellness visit to check your more traditional risk factors,” Bond says. “If at some point symptoms develop, it would be prudent for the primary doctor to refer you to a cardiovascular specialist.”
Staying Informed
“Heart disease remains the number one killer for both men and women; however, it also remains 80% preventable.”
“The only way to know your risks is by knowing your numbers including cholesterol, blood pressure, body mass index, and making healthy lifestyle choices in regard to your diet and exercise,” Bond says.
Thinking about heart disease risk factors, symptoms and consequences can be scary, but it’s important that both women and men stay aware. If you’re looking for more on women and heart disease, or just heart disease in general, the American Heart Association and womenshealth.gov are great places to start.
Need Help Scheduling an Appointment?
If you have not seen your doctor in over a year, we encourage you to schedule an appointment today to learn where your numbers are at. If your insurance plan is part of Arizona Care Network, our concierge team can help you find a provider near you and schedule an appointment. Call 602.406.7226 or email members@azcarenetwork.org.
