When we think of a victim of heart disease, we tend to think of men, but unfortunately, heart disease is the leading killer of both men and women in the United States.

Heart disease includes the narrowing of the arteries that bring oxygen to the heart, heart failure, diseases of the heart muscles, inborn defects, and other conditions.  Five hundred thousand American women die each year from heart diseases, and the risks increase as a woman ages.

The Change of Life

The Cleveland Clinic Heart Center explains that menopause changes the risks for women and heart disease.  Post-menopause, a woman’s body experiences reduced estrogen production, changes in cholesterol levels, changes in the structure of blood vessels, and increased production of the clotting agent fibrinogen. 

No one yet knows exactly how much a woman’s risk is affected by each of these changes, but they are definitely associated with greater heart disease risk.

Women who have gone through menopause are two to three times more likely to suffer heart disease than a pre-menopausal woman of the same age.  Women that have had a hysterectomy experience these same raised risk factors. 

In the past, scientists studying women and heart disease hypothesized that hormone replacement therapy could help post-menopausal women fight heart disease; however, long-term studies do not confirm that preliminary idea and doctors no longer recommend hormone replacement therapy to battle heart disease.

Menopause we cannot change, but other risk factors are under our control.

Using hormonal birth control (the pill or the patch) is considered safe for women under thirty-five. As of now, doctors do not have proof that birth control hormones can increase or decrease problems for women and heart disease, especially after the age of thirty-five.

When talking about your heart disease risk factors with your doctor, get his or her opinion on your personal situation.   

A Change of Lifestyle

Scientists studying women and heart disease find that women are knowledgeable about what lifestyles are associated with heart disease, but are also prone to having those lifestyles.

For example, according to the National Institutes of Health, fifty-six million American women have high cholesterol, 33% of women have high blood pressure, and 62% of women are overweight.  Despite these risks, women are less physically active than men, on average. 

For women, as for men, there are a few good guidelines to a healthier heart.  Habits such as not smoking, maintaining a healthy weight by regular activity or exercise, cutting down on the fatty foods, and getting your cholesterol tested can dramatically help prevent heart disease.

Don’t become another statistic about women and heart disease. 

Tags: cure for heart disease, heart disease in woman, prevent heart disease

To understand the seriousness of heart disease in women, we need to first look at the facts.  According to recent studies, it’s found that more than 8 million American women are currently living with some form of heart disease.

In fact, heart disease is the leading cause of death of American women and more women than men die of heart disease each year.

Heart disease in women can be diagnosed and treated but the key to staying healthy is prevention.  Once a woman finds out that she has heart disease, it may already be too late.

Chances are, that woman has engaged in several risk factors throughout her lifetime that contributed to her contracting the disease.

Such risk factors that increase the risk of heart disease in women include cigarette smoking, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, not being active, diabetes and obesity.

Women need to understand that these risk factors need to be avoided as much as possible because they are so susceptible to the disease.  Heart disease in women doesn’t need to be as much of an epidemic it has become.

With just a few lifestyle changes, all women can once more live long and healthy lives without the risk for heart disease. 

Of course, there are other risk factors that increase the risk for heart disease in women that can’t be helped.  These risk factors include age, heredity, the effects of menopause, etc.

By knowing this, women should arm themselves with as much information as they can so that they can know just what they are dealing with.

Heart disease in women doesn’t need to have such a high morality rate. 

By adopting a few lifestyle changes such as getting more exercise, eating right, quitting smoking and reducing stress levels, women can drastically reduce the propensity for heart disease.  This is important not only for heart disease but for other diseases as well. 

Heart disease in women does claim many lives each and every year but the disease can be manageable and preventable.  Women need to study and learn as much as they can.  They need to be educated.

Not many women know that they have such a high probability of getting the disease.  All women need to know that they have a greater risk of getting the disease than men.

By understanding and knowing this, women will have a step up on this horrible disease and, maybe one day, heart disease in women will be a thing of the past.

Tags: congestive heart disease, heart disease prevention, heart disease