I think most of us associate heart attacks with men, but more women have heart attacks than men. In the USA, heart disease is the top killer of women and in the UK it is the second most common cause of death in women. 35.3% of deaths in American women over the age of 20, or more than 432,000, are caused by cardiovascular disease each year. More than 200,000 women die each year from heart attacks – five times as many women as breast cancer.
The important thing is, there are lifestyle changes that we can do to reduce the risk – 90% of cardiovascular disease is preventable. The health of our heart is affected by many things including the levels of good (HDL) and bad (LDL) cholesterol in our blood, how much we exercise, if we are a healthy weight, how much alcohol and coffee we drink, our sleep pattern and how much we get stressed, anxious or angry.
Our heart is needed to pump blood around our body. When our heart stops, we die. The heart is divided into four chambers consisting of two atria which receive blood and two ventricles which pump blood. The right atrium receives blood from the superior and inferior vena cavas and the coronary sinus; blood then moves to the right ventricle where it is pumped to the lungs. Here it picks up oxygen and the blood is returned to the heart so it can be pumped around the body to the cells.
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a term that includes all the diseases of the heart and circulation: coronary heart disease, angina (chest pain caused by a lack of blood to the heart), heart attack, congenital heart disease and stroke. There are four main types of CVD: coronary heart disease, strokes, peripheral arterial disease and aortic disease.
Coronary heart disease is caused when the heart muscles do not get enough oxygen rich blood because of a build up of fatty substances in the coronary arteries which narrow or block the blood vessels. This can lead to angina, heart attacks (blood flow to the heart is blocked) and heart failure (the heart cannot pump the blood around the body).
A stroke is where the blood supply to the brain is shut off.
In peripheral arterial disease there is a blockage in the arteries to the limbs.
The aorta is the largest vessel that carriers blood to the rest of the body. Aortic disease is a range of conditions affecting this blood vessel.
Having a heart attack:
One key point to note is that heart attack symptoms in men and women are different. In women, the most common heart attack symptom is some type of pain, pressure or discomfort in the chest – but not the type of crushing chest pain that men experience. Women can even have a heart attack without pain. The Mayo clinic reports the female heart attack symptoms as:
- Neck, jaw, shoulder, upper back or abdominal discomfort
- Shortness of breath
- Pain in one or both arms
- Nausea or vomiting
- Sweating
- Lightheadedness or dizziness
- Unusual fatigue
If you think you are at risk of any heart issues, your doctor may do certain tests including blood pressure and cholesterol. You may have a cardiogram or other test to monitor your heart.
What can you do to keep your heart healthy? You need a healthy diet and regular exercise. High blood pressure, smoking, high cholesterol, being overweight, being inactive, diabetes and your family history can affect your risk. So improving all of these will reduce your risk and improve the health of your heart.
Tomorrow we will post about how exercise can improve the health of our heart and how to measure our heart rate.
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