Online CPR Certification Blog
Gender Essential to Know Your Risk Factor in Terms of Heart Disease
Date: January 18th, 2015
No one is exempted from a heart disease. It is the primary cause of mortality in the US alone both for men and women. But there are certain gender alterations that ladies must be aware of. When there is a heart attack, the faster you will get the treatment, the more heart you can save. It makes a big difference to know the signs of a heart attack, but those signs might not be the one you have been thinking of. When ladies come to a hospital, they might not be able to describe a Hollywood heart attack or the grasping of the chest that is very achy going to the arms. They just feel the pressure going down the chest area, shortness of breath, pressure at the upper back just around the shoulders.
Additional info
There was a study that was found in 2013 stating that 1 in 5 women suffering from a heart attack that is not experiencing chest pain as the first sign of it. Women may have suffered from jaw, throat and neck pain, nausea, tiredness and dizziness as well. They do not know that these are possible signs of a heart attack, so they just delay getting medical attention. Early intervention is one of the latest trends in cardiovascular medicine in the last twenty years; this information was given by Marla Mendelson. She is a cardiologist at the Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
The signs
If there is someone having a heart attack and they just keep calm sitting at home in front of the TV screen saying that it is probably my stomach aching. It might be something I ate last night or within the day that made my stomach upset, then they are not going to take advantage from the advancement of the heart disease that can absolutely help them along the way, she added. Men and women these days share the same risk factors for a heart disease, like family background, obesity, smoking and high blood pressure. In terms of age, women are prone to a cardio disease in a much later time in life than men. This is due to the protection from the hormone known as estrogen, according to Mendelson. The estrogen is very beneficial for a healthy heart; it keeps the blood vessels very flexible thus making the blood flow easily.
The relation of menopause
There are researches that show how the risk of heart ailment rises after women menopause, when the menstrual periods suddenly stop & the estrogen production suddenly falls. Even young women who suddenly had early menopausal lost their estrogen, they are at risk of it, she added. Certain conditions related to pregnancy can also raise the possibility of women from having a heart disease. There is a study just earlier this year stating that this is associated with gestational diabetes, which is a type of diabetes that happens during pregnancy, wherein the hardening of the arteries or atherosclerosis may occur. Accordingly, women who have developed hypertension linked with pregnancy or better known as preeclampsia are more likely to develop heart disease later on in life in a much higher risk.