risk factors for heart disease and the effect on women
Stress is a normal part of life. But if left unmanaged, stress can lead to emotional, psychological, and even physical problems, including heart disease, high blood pressure, chest pains, or irregular heart beats. Stress itself might be a risk factor, or it could be that high levels of stress make other risk factors (such as high cholesterol or high blood pressure) worse. For example, if you are under stress, your blood pressure goes up, you may overeat, you may exercise less, and you may be more likely to smoke.
If stress itself is a risk factor for heart disease, it could be because chronic stress exposes your body to unhealthy, persistently elevated levels of stress hormones like adrenaline and cortisol. Studies also link stress to changes in the way blood clots, which increases the risk of heart attack.
Early detection gives you the chance to catch a problem early instead of waiting until something worse happens. Being aware of potential symptoms before a heart attack or other life-threatening event occurs can be the difference between life and death. Early detection of heart problems would give Keisha the ability to take action to lower risk factors, live a healthier lifestyle and seek necessary treatments from her doctors. Early detection matters. Don’t wait until it’s too late – identify problems before they get bigger through screening for heart disease.
Heart disease is no longer considered a disease that affects just men. In the past, women usually received less aggressive treatment for heart disease and were not referred for diagnostic tests as often. As a result, when many women were finally diagnosed with heart disease, they usually had more advanced disease and their prognosis was poorer. We now know that cardiovascular diseases affect more women than men and are responsible for more than 40% of all deaths in American women.
Heart attack symptoms in women may be different from those experienced by men. Many women who have a heart attack do not know it. Women tend to feel a burning sensation in their upper abdomen and may experience lightheadedness, an upset stomach, and sweating. Because they may not feel the typical pain in the left half of their chest, many women may ignore symptoms that indicate they are having a heart attack.
Physicians used to think that women didn’t have as many risk factors, but we now know this isn’t true. A woman with diabetes has three to seven times higher than normal risk of developing heart disease, while a man with diabetes sees only an increased risk of two to three times. Obesity also has raises heart disease risk more among women (64% for women compared with 46% for men). And then there are unique risk factors for women: elevated blood pressure during pregnancy (pre-eclampsia) and diabetes during pregnancy (gestational diabetes). Women who have either of these disorders have a higher risk of developing heart disease later on in life, as can women who have fluctuating or abnormal hormones.
This means women need to be aware of their risks and they must make the time and the effort to keep as healthy as possible. And we have to make the medical system more accountable and ready to treat women properly and effectively.
And those women who have beaten breast cancer? Most go on to live healthy and fulfilling lives – and often end up developing heart disease themselves. Whether the increased heart disease risk is due to the breast cancer therapies or to the disease itself which is associated with some of the same risk factors for heart disease remains unknown. One disease is not more important the other. We just have to make sure that one doesn’t overshadow the other.