Heart disease is not just a man’s disease

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Coronary heart disease—often simply called heart disease—is the main form of heart disease. It is a disorder of the blood vessels of the heart that can lead to heart attack. A heart attack happens when an artery becomes blocked, preventing oxygen and nutrients from getting to the heart. Heart disease is one of several cardiovascular diseases, which are diseases of the heart and blood vessel system. Other cardiovascular diseases include stroke, high blood pressure, angina (chest pain), and rheumatic heart disease.

One reason some women aren’t too concerned about heart disease is that they think it can be “cured” with surgery or medication. This is a myth. Heart disease is a lifelong condition-once you get it, you’ll always have it. True, procedures such as bypass surgery and angioplasty can help blood and oxygen flow to the heart more easily. But the arteries remain damaged, which means you are more likely to have a heart attack. What’s more, the condition of your blood vessels will steadily worsen unless you make changes in your daily habits. Many women die of complications from heart disease, or become permanently disabled. That’s why it is so vital to take action to prevent and control this disease. More information is available on cardiovascular diseases on the the NHLBI Health Topics Web Site.

What Are the Risk Factors for Heart Disease?

Risk factors are conditions or habits that make a person more likely to develop a disease. They can also increase the chances that an existing disease will get worse. Important risk factors for heart disease that you can do something about are:

High blood pressure

High blood cholesterol

Diabetes

Smoking

Being overweight

Being physically inactive

Having a family history of early heart disease

Age (55 or older for women)

Some risk factors, such as age and family history of early heart disease, can’t be changed. For women, age becomes a risk factor at 55. After menopause, women are more apt to get heart disease, in part because their body’s production of estrogen drops. Women who have gone through early menopause, either naturally or because they have had a hysterectomy, are twice as likely to develop heart disease as women of the same age who have not yet gone through menopause. Another reason for the increasing risk is that middle age is a time when women tend to develop risk factors for heart disease. Family history of early heart disease is another risk factor that can’t be changed. If your father or brother had a heart attack before age 55, or if your mother or sister had one before age 65, you are more likely to get heart disease yourself. Find out your risk for a heart attack.

While certain risk factors cannot be changed, it is important to realize that you do have control over many others. Regardless of your age, background, or health status, you can lower your risk of heart disease-and it doesn’t have to be complicated. Protecting your heart can be as simple as taking a brisk walk, whipping up a good vegetable soup, or getting the support you need to maintain a healthy weight.

You can make the changes gradually, one at a time. But making them is very important. Other women may wonder: If I have just one risk factor for heart disease-say, I’m overweight or I have high blood cholesterol-aren’t I more or less “safe”? Absolutely not. Each risk factor greatly increases a woman’s chance of developing heart disease. But having more than one risk factor is especially serious, because risk factors tend to “gang up” and worsen each other’s effects. So, the message is clear: Every woman needs to take her heart disease risk seriously-and take action now to reduce that risk.