Listen to Your Heart
What every woman should know about heart disease
by Michelle Gibeault Traub, R.D.
More women die from heart disease than any other cause. What exactly is heart disease and how do you know if you have it? What signs should you look for? One of the reasons why heart disease is so deadly is that many women simply don’t know the answers to these questions, or they ignore the signs of an ailing heart. Listen to your heart; it could save your life.
What is Heart Disease?
The term “heart disease” encompasses a host of problems with the heart and circulatory system. Virtually any difficulty in the body’s ability to circulate blood and oxygen can be a sign of heart disease (also known more broadly as cardiovascular disease). The heart is the essential pump of the circulatory system, the network of arteries and blood vessels that provide every cell in your body with the vital blood, oxygen, and nutrients that they need to survive. If the pump is not working properly, or if there are any “kinks” in this system, tissues will suffer.
What Happens During A Heart Attack?
A heart attack occurs when the blood flowing to the heart (through the coronary arteries) is blocked. A blockage can be minor, such as a small blood clot, or it can be much larger as in the case of a narrowed artery that is full of plaque from years of cholesterol build-up. Regardless, when any blockage occurs in blood flow, oxygen is not getting through to heart muscle. This can cause the muscle to be damaged or even completely destroyed. In medical terms this is referred to as myocardial infarction (MI), or death of the myocardium (heart muscle). Since the heart needs a constant supply of oxygen, damage to this important muscle can occur very quickly if blood flow is stopped. That is why it is extremely important to know if your heart is at risk, along with the signs and symptoms of a heart attack, because early detection and treatment can minimize heart damage and ultimately save your life.
Risk Factors for Heart Disease
Although everyone should be aware of the signs of heart attack, as you will learn later, those signs can be tricky to detect. Therefore, it is a good idea to also know the risk factors for heart disease. Individuals with one of more of these risk factors should pay closer attention to what their heart is telling them, and they should also take steps to reduce their risks through lifestyle changes (See the Adora Calcium Heart Disease page for more information). The major risk factors for heart disease include:
- High blood pressure (140/90 mm Hg or higher)
- High cholesterol (Total cholesterol levels of 200 mg/dL or higher)
- Elevated CRP (C-reactive protein)
- Diabetes
- Smoking
- Inactivity
- Obesity (BMI of greater than 25)
- Family History of Heart Disease
- Age (Men over 45, Women over 55)
- Use of Hormone Replacement Therapy (See also: The Maddening State of Menopause)
Signs of Heart Attack
When I was just three-years old, I told my Mom that if she got sick I would, “jump on her chest and beep her heart.” This was clearly in response to television representations of how a heart attack is treated – with a defibrillator and a heart monitor. From an early age, my knowledge of a heart attack included lots of drama with the victim clutching their chest and gasping for breath. But, in reality a heart attack is not always so dramatic or predictable. Although chest pain is the major indicator of heart attack in both men and women, there are a host of other more subtle signs of heart trouble in women. These symptoms affect many different parts of the body as indicated below:
Heart Attack Symptoms in Women
| Area Affected |
Symptom |
Chest, Upper Body |
Pain, tightness, or pressure spreading across the upper back, shoulders, neck, or arms.
Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath. |
Entire Body |
Sweating, unusual fatigue, anxiety, or weakness |
Head |
Dizziness, feeling lightheaded, pain in the jaw. |
Abdomen |
Pain, nausea, vomiting |
Heart |
A fluttering feeling in the left side of the chest |
What Women Must Do
If you believe that you (or a loved one) may be having a heart attack, don’t wait! Call 911 and get to the nearest emergency room as soon as possible. Based on your symptoms the emergency dispatcher may tell you to chew (or administer) a full-strength aspirin to prevent further clotting. [NOTE: Aspirin is not advised in the case of a stroke in which the symptoms generally involve difficulty speaking, smiling, or raising the arms.] Be very clear that you believe that it is a heart attack. If emergency personnel don’t seem to be taking the information seriously be more demanding.
A Personal Story
A family friend recently experienced tightness in her chest and difficulty breathing. Since she didn’t have outright pain she waited several hours before finally calling for an ambulance in the wee hours of the morning. When the EMT’s arrived, they spent several minutes working on her in her driveway. At that point she was certain something was very wrong and exclaimed, “GET ME TO THE HOSPITAL!” The EMTs knew she meant business and quickly drove her to the emergency room. The physician on call knew immediately she was having a heart attack and administered the proper treatment therefore saving her life with very little time to spare.
Sometimes women are concerned about looking silly and they don’t want to be a burden, so they forgo getting medical help or they timidly let health care workers “do their thing.” But, the truth is, women must be assertive to get the care they need. If you believe there is something wrong with your heart, yet the emergency room staff tells you everything is fine without offering clear reasons for the symptoms you are experiencing, ask for proof. It is your right to request, or even demand, that they run an electrocardiogram (EKG) or echocardiogram, along with a blood test of your cardiac enzymes which indicate if there has been any heart damage. In addition, don’t just take their word for it. Ask to see the results, and also to have a full explanation of what they mean. I know of numerous incidents where women (and men as well) have been released from the hospital with a clean bill of health only to learn later from their regular physician that their test results did in fact indicate a heart attack had occurred. The harsh reality is that emergency healthcare workers are often tired and overworked, so patients who don’t speak up could be overlooked.
Spread the Word
Many health agencies have been working hard to spread the word about the importance of heart health in women. And, due to these efforts the number of deaths related to heart disease has declined. Knowledge has been a powerful tool in this victory. Please help spread the word by telling your female friends and family members about the risk factors and signs of heart disease. Click here to pass on this free newsletter.
Resources
Mayo Clinic:
Podcast: Diagnosing heart disease — What every woman should know
Heart attack symptoms: Know what signals a medical emergency
NHLBI - How Is a Heart Attack Treated?
The National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease www.WomenHeart.org
References
- Mayo Clinic Cardiovascular disease 101: Understanding heart and blood vessel conditions. www.MayoClinic.com. Aug 9, 2007, retrieved 2/12/08 LINK
- FDA Heart Health Online Risk Factors for Cardiovascular Disease. www.FDA.gov. Updated February 27th, 2004, retrieved 2/12/08 LINK
- Mayo Clinic Heart disease in women: A Mayo Clinic specialist answers questions. www.MayoClinic.com. Apr 3, 2007, retrieved 2/13/08 LINK
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