Cardiovascular disease is the No. 1 killer of women

If you thought we lose maximum number of our women to Breast cancer, then you are wrong. Cardiovascular disease is the No. 1 killer of women. A woman’s lifetime risk of dying from heart disease is eight times greater than that of breast cancer.  The most worrying factor is that now heart ailments are affecting more women in the reproductive age group, unlike in the past when women got it mostly after menopause. This could be because levels of oestrogen, a hormone which gives extra protection to women’s heart is found in low levels in young women due to changing lifestyle, early onset of diabetes, obesity and related ailments and physical inactivity.

Some Women heart facts:

• A greater proportion of women (52 percent) than men (42 percent) with heart ailments die of sudden cardiac death before reaching the hospital
• 69% of Housewives and 67% of working women above 35 years are at risk of Heart disease
• Excess belly weight , so-called apple shape , raises a woman’s risk for heart attack
• Oestrogen is protective for women’s  heart prior to menopause, hence women tend to get heart attacks 10 to 15 years later than men. These numbers are changing with levels of oestrogen going down in young women
• Smoking and diabetes is more harmful to women’s heart than men
• Women having high lipids, abdominal obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure are at high risk for heart ailments
• Women who have had recurrent miscarriages are at particularly high risk for heart disease
• Women often overlook symptoms and discomfort pertaining to heart diseases, and rarely consult an expert and as a result early symptoms goes unrecorded
•  Women do not get the classic pattern of angina with pain in the left side of the chest, but are more likely to get atypical angina, in which they could experience discomfort in the shoulders, back, and neck followed by breathlessness

• Mental stress too contribute towards heart attack symptoms in women
• Broken heart syndrome, caused by stressful situations which leads to severe, but usually temporary, heart muscle failure is observed in women in menopause
• Women with inflammatory diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis or lupus, also have a higher risk of heart disease
• Women who are more prone to depression, are at increased risk for heart disease
• Women who take birth control pills with estrogen, you are at risk for heart ailment.
• People who admitted to brushing their teeth less frequently had a 70% extra risk of heart disease
• Women who take daily soda based drinks are at risk of heart attack

What women need to do

Proper nutrition is important particularly to decrease the risk for metabolic syndrome and abdominal obesity.

Reduce intake of processed carbohydrates such as white rice and strictly avoiding trans fat is important

Daily physical activity for 30 minutes or at least five days per week can both be fun and help your heart

Saying  no to Smoking and Alcohol

Regularly check your C-B-D  – Cholesterol levels, Blood Pressure and Diabetes

Learn your family’s heart attack history and take preventative steps

Treatment for heart disease in women 

Heart disease treatment is similar for women and men

Treatment may include

• Medications
• Angioplasty and Stenting
• Coronary bypass surgery

Angioplasty and stenting, commonly used treatments for heart attack, are effective for both men and women.