Love is in the air this Valentine’s season. But before women share their hearts with their loved ones, they should make sure their hearts are healthy.
Heart disease remains the leading killer of American women, causing more deaths each year than the next 16 leading causes of death combined. In fact, heart disease kills more women than men, according to the American Heart Association.
Nationwide, one in three women has some form of cardiovascular disease. In Colorado, more than 22,000 women are hospitalized each year with cardiovascular disease, with nearly 5,000 dying from the condition, according to the latest statistics from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
One reason for this is because symptoms of heart disease often differ between men and women. As a result, early warning signs may go unrecognized and undetected in women until it is too late. Although heart disease kills approximately 500,000 women each year, women are less likely to be treated as aggressively and are more likely to die of heart disease than men due to the mistaken belief that it is a man’s disease, according to the National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease.
February is National Heart Month. With that in mind, women nationwide and in Colorado are being urged to educate themselves on how to identify, manage and prevent heart disease.
By following healthful eating and exercise habits, women can decrease their risk of heart disease by 82 percent, according to the Harvard School of Public Health.
Women may have fewer or different symptoms of heart disease than do men, symptoms that are often undetectable until the disease is well advanced.
This fact leaves less time for treatment. Women are also more likely than men to have a “painless progression” of heart disease, and their pain may not be located on the left side of the chest as it often is for men.
The pain and symptoms that women do feel are those that many women often fail to associate with heart disease, such as heartburn, indigestion, nausea, shortness of breath, fatigue, dizziness and back or jaw pain.
As a result, almost half of women with heart disease feel their diagnoses “came out of the blue,” according to a survey conducted by the National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease.
Risk factors for heart disease can include increased age, family history, a previous heart attack or stroke, smoking, high blood cholesterol and blood pressure, obesity and diabetes.
While women cannot control their family history or age, they can reduce the risk of heart disease by working with their health care providers to evaluate their risk factors and alter their lifestyle habits.
Beginning a moderate exercise regimen and a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol is a start. There is also an array of support programs available in Colorado. For instance, the Colorado Cardiovascular Center and the Heart Disease Prevention Program on the Colorado State University campus are two excellent resources. Other options include consulting with your doctor, visiting respected online resources, and health insurance carriers.
With all that in mine, please show your heart some love this Valentine’s Day by recognizing the threat of heart disease and begin taking steps to mitigate those risks.
Dr. Jacqueline Stiff is vice president of Health Care Strategies at UnitedHealthcare. EDITOR’S NOTE: This is an online-only column and has not been edited.
