Eliz Greene is a woman who knows what she’s talking about when she describes surviving a heart attack. She was seven months pregnant with twins when she suffered a massive heart attack. Not only did she survive a ten-minute cardiac arrest, the caesarean delivery of her daughters and open heart surgery – all on the same day! – she gained new perspective and passion for life. Continue reading “The busy woman’s guide to surviving a cardiac event”
Category: Women and heart attacks
– posts here focus on warning signs and symptoms women experience during a cardiac event
Women missing the beat: are doctors ignoring women’s cardiac symptoms?
by Carolyn Thomas ♥ @HeartSisters
True or false? Every year, more women die of heart disease than men.
The answer is true, but if you didn’t know it, you’re in good company. In a survey of 500 American doctors (100 cardiologists, 100 obstetrician/gynecologists, and 300 family practice physicians) led by cardiologist Dr. Lori Mosca, only 8% of family doctors knew this fact, but – even more astonishing – only 17% of cardiologists were aware of it.
When it comes to women and heart disease, ignorance can be deadly. The misconception that heart disease is mostly a ‘man’s disease’ is one reason that women continue to be misdiagnosed or receive delayed treatment when experiencing symptoms of heart disease.
Dr. Mosca, Professor of Medicine and Director of Preventive Cardiology at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center, explains that women patients often report that their complaints were dismissed or that they were “blown off” by their doctors when they presented with heart disease symptoms. Studies show that there is a gender bias out there that women need to be aware of.
” Our own research has shown that physicians are more likely to label a woman at lower risk for heart disease than a man with the same calculated level of heart disease risk.” Continue reading “Women missing the beat: are doctors ignoring women’s cardiac symptoms?”
His and hers heart disease
by Carolyn Thomas ♥ @HeartSisters
Should we invent a new name for women’s heart disease? A review on the topic of gender differences in heart disease reminds us what many heart attack survivors already know: when it comes to heart attacks, women are not just small men.
Standard cardiac treatment typically focuses on obstructive coronary artery disease, which up to half of women may not ever experience. In obstructive coronary artery disease, the large blood vessels in the heart can become blocked through atherosclerosis, a condition in which fatty cholesterol streaks build up in the arteries.
In fact, the Framingham Risk Score, based on a study of over 5,000 participants (and their descendents) followed since 1948, is the traditional measure of heart disease risk, yet this scale mistakenly classified almost 90% of women as low risk – which is hard to get your brain wrapped around given that more women than men die each year from heart disease.
But in small vessel disease, the narrowing of the very small arteries in the heart means they can’t expand properly. As a result, your heart muscles don’t get an adequate supply of oxygen-rich blood. This inability to expand is called endothelial dysfunction. This problem may cause your small vessels to become even smaller when you’re active or under emotional stress. The reduced blood flow through the small blood vessels causes chest pain and other debilitating symptoms similar to those you’d have if you were having a heart attack. Continue reading “His and hers heart disease”
More women than men die from heart disease each year
Think that heart attacks happen mostly to men? Watch this informative video from the Mayo Women’s Heart Clinic featuring cardiologist Dr. Sharonne Hayes.
What do you think? Share your opinion below.
Heart Sisters 