Your heart has a lot riding on the fundamental decisions you make every day. Bit by bit, factors such as the foods you eat and how you choose to spend your free time shape your heart health for decades to come. For women, taking the long view is especially important. That’s because your risk for heart disease increases after menopause. However, no matter your age, it’s never too late to reorient your approach to heart health.
How Heart Disease Threatens Women’s Health
Heart disease claims more women’s lives than any other cause. Despite that fact, it remains an underappreciated threat. This may be due, in part, to when heart disease typically becomes a problem for women.
After menopause, your body all but stops making the hormone estrogen. Before menopause, estrogen may help keep arteries from becoming clogged with cholesterol. After menopause, you lose estrogen’s protection. This loss helps explain why the development of heart disease in women usually lags behind men by about 10 years, according to the Office on Women’s Health. Younger women may be more concerned with other health threats, such as breast cancer, because heart disease is less common before menopause.
Heart disease causes more deaths each year among men than women. However, women tend to do worse after a common form of heart disease—heart attack. According to the American Heart Association, women are more likely than men to have lower physical and mental functioning post-heart attack. In addition, women are more likely than men to develop heart failure after a first severe heart attack.
Gender Risk Factors for Heart Disease
Many heart disease risk factors affect men and women alike. These include obesity, high blood pressure, abnormal cholesterol levels, an unhealthy diet, lack of physical activity, smoking, alcohol use and stress. However, some risk factors are exclusive to women, including:
- Endometriosis. This condition occurs when tissue from the uterus grows on nearby organs. In addition to causing pain, endometriosis may contribute to inflammation and high cholesterol. Those conditions can increase heart disease risk.
- Gestational diabetes. If you had gestational diabetes—diabetes during pregnancy—you may be more likely to develop calcium in your heart arteries later in life, according to a study in the journal Circulation. Known as calcification, this process can lead to heart disease.
- High blood pressure during pregnancy. Also known as gestational hypertension, high blood pressure during pregnancy can put you at risk for chronic high blood pressure in the future.
Spotting the Lesser-Known Signs of a Heart Attack
For women, there’s no such thing as a stereotypical heart attack. That doesn’t mean women are immune to classic heart attack symptoms, such as chest discomfort and shortness of breath. However, women may experience a wider range of symptoms than men. In addition, many symptoms that are more common in women are easy to attribute to causes other than a heart attack.
Watch out for these subtle signs of a heart attack:
- A feeling of fullness in the stomach
- Back pain
- Extreme tiredness
- Fainting
- Nausea
- Pain in the lower chest or upper abdomen
- Shoulder pain
To protect your heart, call 911 at the first sign of a potential heart attack.
(Lifestyle) Change of Heart
Preventing heart disease isn’t always possible—some risk factors, such as aging and a family history of heart disease, are out of your control. Likewise, avoiding all heart disease risk factors is a tall order. Nine out of 10 women will have at least one heart disease risk factor during their lifetimes.
Don’t let the difficulty of evading heart disease risk factors get you down. An estimated 80% of heart disease cases are preventable. That’s because you can manage many of the risk factors and take other steps to protect your heart.
How You Can Step Up for Heart Health
- Dine with heart health in mind. Eat plenty of heart-healthy foods, including fruits and vegetables; whole grains, such as brown rice; lean sources of protein, such as fish and turkey; fat-free or low-fat dairy products; and foods with unsaturated fats, such as nuts. Avoid foods high in sodium, saturated fat and sugar.
- Limit alcohol. Cap your alcohol consumption at one drink per day—one fewer than recommended for men.
- Move more. Get in an exercise routine and slowly increase the intensity and duration of activity over time. Work toward completing 30 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise on most days of the week. Paired with a nutritious diet, regular exercise will help you maintain a healthy weight.
- Partner with a pro. Your primary care provider (PCP), who may be a medical doctor, nurse practitioner or physician assistant, can help you prioritize heart health. During regular appointments, your PCP will check key indicators of heart health, such as blood pressure, cholesterol levels, blood glucose levels and how your heart sounds, to see how your heart is doing. Regular exams will allow your PCP to catch any problems early. If you need a higher level of heart care, your PCP may refer you for cardiology services.
- Rein in stress. Do your heart good by making time each day for something relaxing or enjoyable.
- Seek education and support. Take advantage of opportunities, such as classes and events led by medical providers, to learn more about heart health. These gatherings are also great ways to connect with people who share your commitment to a healthy lifestyle.
- Stop smoking. Women older than 35 who smoke are more likely to die of heart disease than their male counterparts, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Regardless of age, quitting smoking is one of the most important things you can do for your heart.
- Steer clear of heart-health supplements. Products labeled as “vitamins for heart health” or “heart-health supplements” aren’t backed by evidence. Additionally, some can cause harmful side effects, including a risk of bleeding. Don’t start taking a vitamin or supplement without consulting your PCP. And if you do take any, be sure to let your health care providers know, especially if you will be having surgery.
