Elevate Your Health Colorado The risk every woman should take to heart

Breast cancer might garner the most attention in women’s health issues, but there’s an even bigger health risk facing women: cardiovascular disease.  Not only does it represent a high risk similar to that in men, its signs can sometimes be less detectable in women.

“Women sometimes underestimate their likelihood of having heart disease,” says Julie Sutherland, MD, a board-certified cardiologist with Kaiser Permanente Colorado. “Women tend to believe that breast cancer is more of a threat when, in actuality, cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death among American women.”

Heart disease develops over time when plaque builds up, causing a clot to form or the arteries to harden and narrow. Women's risk factors differ from men for two reasons: estrogen levels drop after menopause and some symptoms might be more subtle.

Estrogen hormones have antioxidant properties which protect against heart disease by naturally increasing healthy HDL cholesterol, decreasing bad LDL cholesterol, dilating and preventing damage to the blood vessels. Since these protective factors diminish after menopause (typically between the ages of 45 and 60), these women need to be even more diligent about paying attention to the warning signs. 

Learn to recognize the symptoms
The subtle signs of heart disease can often go unnoticed by women until they experience a heart attack. “Women present with heart attack symptoms that are different from the classic chest pain men get, but they need to be taken just as seriously,” Dr. Sutherland says. Heart attack symptoms in women can include:

• Neck, shoulder, jaw, upper back or abdominal pain
• Shortness of breath
• Nausea or vomiting
• Sweating
• Lightheadedness or dizziness
• Extreme fatigue

If any one of these symptoms is persistent or recurring, women should seek medical attention.

Lower your risk
Preventing a heart attack can sometimes be as simple as modifying your lifestyle. Although age and family history cannot be changed, there are other risk factors that can be controlled. Here are simple recommendations on how women of all ages can protect their heart:

• Keep stress to a minimum. A recent study shows that women with high stress on the job are 40 percent more likely to develop heart disease.

• Kick your smoking habit. Smoking damages major vessels of the heart and interferes with normal blood flow. Within two years of quitting, you can cut your heart disease risk by one-third.

• Maintain your weight. A heart-healthy diet and just 30 minutes of aerobic exercise daily can cut your heart disease risk in half. Work with your doctor to keep your body-mass index within a healthy range (under 30 BMI).

• Get screened. Starting in your 20s, get your blood cholesterol levels tested once every five years, and check your blood pressure annually. Total cholesterol higher than 200 mg/dL or blood pressure higher than 130/80 should be closely monitored or treated with medication. If you’re at higher risk, your doctor may consider more advanced screenings such as a chest X-ray, stress test or heart CT scan. Recent studies show higher levels of C-reactive protein in the blood, which indicates inflammation, can also increase risk, but can be controlled with medication.

• Manage health conditions. Precursors to heart disease such as diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol should be properly managed through regular visits with your doctor.  

Watch how Dr. Sutherland helped one Colorado woman survive a heart attack here.

Determine your risk by using our interactive heart attack assessment quiz at kp.org.