Connecting the facts about women and heart disease

At the Heart of Women’s Care

Thanks to research from the early 2000s, we know that heart disease is not a “man’s disease.” It’s gender-blind — a fact that is masked in part because women often experience different warning signs than a man would.

Despite this game-changing confirmation, heart disease remains the number-one killer of women. “We know more than ever about heart disease, but patients and physicians need to close the gap between knowledge and action,” explains Margie Akbari, MD, interventional cardiologist, Inova Medical Group Cardiology. “We haven’t quite connected the dots yet.”

Be Your Own Best Heart-Health Advocate

While gender differences between heart disease symptoms are widely known, Dr. Akbari still sees many women downplaying the symptoms, which are sometimes atypical, when talking to a physician. It’s particularly important to speak up because many women in the United States receive much of their medical care from an obstetrician or gynecologist, which naturally puts the emphasis on reproductive and breast health.

Recommended checkups with an OB-GYN are vital, but so are those regarding heart health. As Dr. Akbari points out, 1 in 31 American women dies from breast cancer each year while heart disease claims the lives of 1 in 3 women. “This means that patient and physicians — regardless of specialty — need to move heart health to the top of the list. No symptom is too insignificant to discuss and investigate.”

Risk Factors for Heart Disease

Another gap between knowledge and action concerns risk factors for heart disease. “Even though we know that heart disease strikes at any age, young adult women in particular aren’t doing enough to reduce their risks,” Dr. Akbari says.

For example, young adult females represent the fastest-growing demographic for cigarette smoking, which is the No. 1  risk factor for heart disease. And this is alarming since the birth control pill is the leading contraceptive method among this same demographic. Birth control pills increase the risk of clotting, and smoking increases risk of atherosclerosis (clogged heart arteries). “It’s a toxic combination,” Dr. Akbari points out.

As February is American Heart Month, Dr. Akbari suggests celebrating the occasion with healthy, lifesaving choices. “My advice to any woman at any age is don’t smoke, try to exercise for 30 minutes three to five times a week, stick with the Mediterranean diet, and if you’re having symptoms associated with heart disease, see a physician,” he says.

Learn the Signs by Heart

For women, symptoms associated with heart disease are often less compelling than a man’s classic crushing chest pain. These subtler and often misdiagnosed symptoms include:

-Uncomfortable pressure or pain in the center of the chest that lasts more than a few minutes or goes away and comes back

-Discomfort in one or both arms, neck, jaw, shoulders, upper back or abdomen

-Unexplained sweating, especially with exertion

-Lightheadedness or dizziness

-Unusual fatigue

-Shortness of breath

 

Talk to a cardiologist

Inova has many heart doctors throughout the area. See our Northern Virginia cardiology locations here >