How does heart disease manifest differently in women than in men? Support your answers with supporting documentation. What can you do now to prevent heart disease later?
Heart disease is a serious condition and people need to know the warning signs of a heart attack as well as things they can do to help prevent heart disease. The main warning sign of a heart attack is chest pain or discomfort but it can manifest differently in women than men. Women are more likely than men to experience other symptoms such as shortness of breath or pain in the arm, back, neck or jaw (American Heart Association). Since women may not have the typical pain in the center of the chest they may think their symptoms are a result of something else and may not realize that they are experiencing a heart problem. They may not seek help right away and this is a reason that heart disease is the number one killer of women in America (Cleveland Clinic). There are some things that people can do to help prevent heart disease later. First of all everyone needs to know their family's heart health history. This is a risk factor that you can't really do anything about except make sure your doctor knows and they can maybe run some helpful tests such as stress testing from time to time to make sure that heart disease has not started. A family history of heart disease puts a person at a greater risk for also developing it. The other important things such as exercise, avoiding smoking and eating healthy are all things that people can individually control and can all greatly reduce the risk of developing heart disease for men and women (Cleveland Clinic). If a person knows their risk factors for heart disease and how to help prevent it they can hopefully use those tools to live a long healthy life.
References
Heart Attack, Stroke and Cardiac Arrest Warning Signs. Retrieved October 31, 2009 from http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3053.
Women and Heart Attack. Retrieved October 31, 200 from http://my.clevelandclinic.org/heart/women/miwomen.aspx.
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Jennifer,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that knowing the risk factors of cardiovascular disease may save lives. Unfortunately, health care workers like myself sometimes do not take our own advice. I have been a Nuclear Medicine Technologist for almost twenty years and I have performed thousands of stress tests on patients and see firsthand what poor lifestyle choices lead, however I still continue to eat poorly and not exercise. I think giving advice is great but taking advice and applying it is better.
Dear Jennifer,
ReplyDeleteI agree with your opinions that people should practice those behaviors which they can control and might help avoiding heart related diseases. Healthy diets and active lifestyles can really help us to decrease the potential risk factors related to this deadly disease.However, as you said family's medical history could help us to be aware of these risks that might develop during our life span and affect our heart.So, we can get rid of those potential factors which might be an outcome of our unhealthy choice of diet and lack of exercise.
Sincerely,
Shisheer Guragain
Jennifer, like the other comments, knowing the risk factors for heart disease is great, but it's not enough. Knowing the signs, like the ones you mentioned, is what can really help save lives. Even someone who practices the healthiest of lifestyles can be victim to the disease and never know it. Knowing the signs and listening to ones body is the key to early detection. I also think that women need to take the advice that we most often give others, and that's to go to the doctor when we feel bad. I know that I don't do that, I just deal with how I feel and go on about my day. I guess I feel that if I don't do things then no one else can, or at least they won't do it right.
ReplyDeleteHi Jennifer,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you,information regarding the difference between men and women signs and symptoms of a heart attack are very important. Since most people only relate heart attacks with men, knowing the symptoms for women would make people more aware of the differences. Being more aware of your family's history, your cholesterol, can save your life. I know we try to stay away from doctors office, but we should know when something really needs to be look at more in depth, and having more information will enable us to make more educated decisions.
Jennifer, great post. Knowing the signs of heart attack and your risk factors for having a heart attack are so important. Especially for women, the fear of thinking you may be having a heart attack and not even know it is very scary. Women must be proactive on learning the signs and preventative measures to protect them selves against this #1 killer.
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