How´s YOUR heart?

In a time when many women dread breast cancer as the worst–possible diagnosis, many of us overlook the real killer. The reality is that many more women die from heart disease than from breast, ovarian and uterine cancer combined.

Yes – breast cancer may get much more media coverage, but the fact is heart disease is not just for men anymore. While a man´s chance of developing heart disease is greater earlier in life, by the time a woman reaches the age of 60 and estrogen levels are on the decline, she runs the same risk of heart attack as a man. Unfortunately, heart attack, stroke, and the other cardiovascular diseases have killed more females than males every year since 1984, according to the American Heart Association.

Cardiovascular diseases kill more than 505,000 females every year – more than the next 16 causes of death combined! More than one out of five females have some form of cardiovascular disease.

Convinced that it´s time to tune in? Maybe the first important thing to realize is that the symptoms of a heart attack can vary tremendously between men and women victims. She may feel unexplained anxiety, weakness or fatigue, palpitations, cold sweats, or paleness. This may be combined with dizziness, nausea, shortness of breath, and difficulty breathing.

Perhaps the most dramatic difference is the type of pain. Women who have survived heart attacks describe pain that begins in the chest, shoots through the chest and is felt in their back under the shoulder blade.

It can be normal for women to feel "pings" or occasional sensations as changes in the chest wall occur during the aging process, but any atypical chest pain, or unusual stomach or abdominal pain should be looked at and evaluated as indicators of possible cardiac distress.

Unfortunately, women´s heart-related complaints are sometimes dismissed because they don´t fit the traditional signs and symptoms. But today, as research re-focuses on women´s experience, the healthcare establishment has recognized that different patients can experience the same conditions in very different ways. So what can you do?

Since prevention is always the best prescription, talk to your healthcare provider to identify your individual risk factors and the best way to manage them.

• Stop smoking!
• Eat right and monitor your cholesterol levels.
• Watch your weight.
• Commit to exercise.

Simple, right? No! – but then again, the really good things in life rarely are. And that’s what we’re really talking about : life!