The ‘bikini approach’ to women’s health research

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 3 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas

We know that, until very recently, cardiac research for the past three decades has been done either exclusively on men, or with women represented in statistically insignificant numbers. Medical researchers have largely taken a ‘bikini approach’ to women’s health care – in which women’s health research focuses on breasts and the reproductive system.

In a recent WomenHeart interview, Mayo Clinic cardiologist Dr. Sharonne Hayes, founder of the Mayo Women’s Heart Clinic in Rochester, MN, explains:

“In the 1960s, erroneous assertions that heart disease was a man’s disease were widely spread to the medical community and to the public.  This led to research almost exclusively focused on cardiovascular disease in men.  Many clinical trials in the 70s and 80s excluded women or simply didn’t make an effort to enroll women in sufficient numbers to draw sex-based conclusions.” Continue reading “The ‘bikini approach’ to women’s health research” →

Heart Disease 101 for new patients

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 5 Comments

paint heart

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥ @HeartSisters

Confused about heart disease terminology?  Visit my patient-friendly, no-jargon glossary of hundreds of confusing phrases, abbreviations and acronyms in cardiology.  Meanwhile, here are some basic definitions you need to know about women’s heart disease:

Heart disease (or cardiac disease) is any kind of disease that affects the heart, like:

  • heart failure
  • angina (any pain between neck and navel that typically comes on with exertion and goes away with rest)
  • arrhythmia (abnormal heart rhythms)
  • valvular heart disease
  • coronary artery disease (CAD) 

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is not the same as heart disease.  Cardio refers to the heart and vascular refers to blood vessels.  CVD affects the heart and/or blood vessels: click to continue reading…

Five shocking truths about your heart

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 2 Comments

woman surprise red dress

by Carolyn Thomas

It’s my cardiac anniversary week!  Here are some things about women and heart disease that I’ve learned since I was hospitalized following a heart attack on May 6, 2008.

  1. heart attacks are more deadly for women than for men
  2. heart attack symptoms can be more subtle for women
  3. heart research focuses on men, not women
  4. for women, depression and heart disease are strongly linked
  5. heart damage starts in your 20s (25-45 is the age coronary disease typically starts) Continue reading “Five shocking truths about your heart” →

Heart attack? Who, me? Couldn’t be!

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 5 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas   ♥  Heart Sisters (on Blue Sky)

I had no idea that heart disease is the number one killer of women worldwide- until my own heart attack in May of 2008.

I really wish I knew long before then what I’ve learned since.  But my hope now is to share what I’ve learned with other women – from the unique perspective of a survivor of a misdiagnosed heart attack, and a 2008 graduate of the WomenHeart Science & Leadership Symposium for Women with Heart Disease at the world famous Mayo Clinic.  You can learn more about my public presentations on women’s heart health here.

Stay along for the ride with me . . .   ♥

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(This was my very first – and shortest – post on April 5, 2009, the day I launched my Heart Sisters blog. At that time, I’d spent almost a year doing my free “Pinot & Prevention” community talks about women’s heart health since completing my Mayo training. I wanted to launch a little 3-page static site to help readers book one of my talks. I gradually began adding longer articles in response to the many questions the women in my audiences were most frequently asking.

Since then, this site has had over 20 million views.  In 2017, my book “A Woman’s Guide To Living With Heart Disease“ (based on hundreds of Heart Sisters articles over the years) was published by Johns Hopkins University Press. You can ask for it at your local bookshop, or order it online (paperback, hardcover or e-book) at Amazon or order it directly from Johns Hopkins University Press. And remember to use their code HTWN to save 30% off the price.