The Facts About Heart Disease for Women

[Guest guest]

The Facts About Heart Disease for Women

 

Heart disease is striking women in epidemic proportions. The

statistics are chilling. Become knowledgeable about this silent

killer.

http://www.oprah.com/health/yourbody/health_yourbody_heartfactold.jht

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The Facts

 

Heart disease is the number one killer of women.

Heart disease refers to the blockages of the arteries, according to

Dr. Mehmet Oz.

Dr. Judith Reichman says that it is estimated that one out of every

two women will die from heart disease.

Heart disease kills ten times more women than breast cancer each

year, and more than all other cancers combined.

One in ten women aged 45 to 64 already suffers from some form of

heart disease.

 

According to one study, nearly one fourth of women who died of

heart disease were between the ages of 35 and 44.

 

Women vs. Men

Many of the symptoms of heart disease are often ignored,

unrecognized or misdiagnosed, because women's symptoms are

completely different than men's.

Women under the age of 75 are twice as likely to die than men,

because both female and male doctors often misdiagnose the symptoms,

according to Dr. Judith Reichman.

 

According to Dr. Reichman, women have heart attacks five to ten

years later than men, because women's estrogen levels decrease over

time and as women become menopausal, they lose some of their

protection against heart disease.

Dr. Mehmet Oz says that women's hearts are physically different

than men's. He says that if you look at the arteries that provide

blood flow to the heart muscle, men's are like rigid pipes, while

women's are soft.

 

Only 30% of women who have heart attacks have

calcium in their arteries, whereas 90% of men who have heart attacks

have calcium in their arteries. Therefore, heart disease is a

different disease for women than it is for men.

 

What African American Women Should Know

African American women are more at risk for heart disease than

Caucasian women. And, if an African American woman has a heart

attack, she is 69% more likely to die of that heart attack than a

Caucasian woman, according to Dr. Judith Reichman.

By the time African American women are in their late 60's, 79% will

have developed high blood pressure, according to Dr. Judith

Reichman.