Category: Women and heart attacks

– posts here focus on warning signs and symptoms women experience during a cardiac event

Deep thoughts about death and heart disease

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 3 Comments

red poppies

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥ @HeartSisters

This week, I’ve been reading Yale Medical School professor Dr. Sherwin Nuland’s amazing book How We Die – which is not nearly as grim as it sounds.  In fact, it’s an endlessly fascinating read. For heart attack survivors, the concept of death can become more interesting than we ever imagined it to be.

We live in a death-denying society. People don’t want to think about death, much less talk about it. As Dr. Nuland writes, death to most of us occurs “in sterile seclusion cloaked in euphemism and taboo”. We don’t even like using the ‘D’ word. Instead of ‘dying’, we prefer to “pass on”, or “pass away” or “go to be with Jesus”. Continue reading “Deep thoughts about death and heart disease” →

Women’s heart pain is both physical and emotional

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 3 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas    ♥  @HeartSisters

woman abstract6Before a heart attack actually occurs, people suffering from the chest pain of angina can feel emotionally traumatized.  Angina may be a physical cardiovascular problem, but it can also take a remarkable emotional toll in the form of anxiety or depression. 

Imagine living in constant dread of the next painful attack, or feeling distressed because angina has forced you to give up activities you enjoy. Over time, anxiety and depression may become a part of your ongoing cardiac symptoms along with the alarming chest pain that can come with an angina attack.  This can lead to a vicious cycle: depression, anxiety, and stress may actually trigger angina pain by prompting the release of hormones that make the heart work harder.
 Continue reading “Women’s heart pain is both physical and emotional” →

Female cardiologists chat about heart disease

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 3 Comments

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by Carolyn Thomas  ♥ @HeartSisters

Only 7% of the world’s cardiologists are women.  Pity.  In these two videos, you’ll get an opportunity to eavesdrop on some of the best of this elite group as they discuss ‘The Heart of a Woman’.

UPDATE FROM CAROLYN: Sadly, neither of these films are still available. Instead, I invite you to watch a remarkable little film called “A Typical Heart“ (about 22 minutes in length), a documentary exploring the deadly disparity between male and female heart disease, through the lens of healthcare professionals, researchers, patients and their families. I was honoured to be one of the eight female heart patients interviewed for this film. 

♥

The chest pain of angina comes in four flavours

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 45 Comments

woman angina

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥  @HeartSisters

There are four main types of angina pectoris women should know about, no matter how you pronounce it: ‘anj-EYE-nuh’ in Canada or Australia, or ‘AN-gin-uh’ in the U.S.   This term is translated as “strangling in the chest”.

The chest pain called angina is not the same as a heart attack – but it can feel like one and can in fact lead to one. Here are the four types of angina you need to know:

  • Stable angina: Mayo Clinic cardiologists define this as any pain/discomfort between neck and navel that comes on with exertion and is relieved by rest. When you climb stairs, exercise or walk, your heart muscle demands more blood, but it’s harder for the muscle to get enough blood when your coronary arteries have become narrowed. Stable angina can also be triggered by emotional stress, cold temperatures, heavy meals, smoking or other activities that can narrow arteries. learn more about the other three types of angina