I wrote this on Valentine’s Day. Talking about heart health seemed like a good idea. What greater form of love, than self care that ensures you are alive and well.
So I thought I would talk about something we all have, and that we all need to take good care of: our hearts.
Recently I went to the doctor and I have stage 2 hypertension, which means I have high blood pressure. I have been struggling with high blood pressure for years, but kind of blew it off, since it seems so benign (there are no symptoms).
Famous Women Who Died (Some Recently) From Heart Disease
But then I heard that Lisa Marie Presley died suddenly of a heart attack in January 2023. She was only 54 years old.
The same week Andrea Thompson, (NBA Player Tristan Thompson's mom and reality tv star Khloe Kardashian’s mother-in-law/friend) also died suddenly of a heart attack. She was also about 50 years old.
February 11th, 2023 was the 11th anniversary of Whitney Houston's untimely death. She was 48 years old, and though there were other extenuating circumstances, it was determined that atherosclerotic heart disease (hardening of the arteries) was a contributing factor in her death.
I have done some research. Here's what I now know...
Statistics on Heart Disease are Alarming, Particularly for Women
I discovered that the statistics are staggering: heart disease is the #1 cause of death in men and women in the U.S., and according to the CDC, in 2017 the leading cause of death for females of all races and origins. Since research has been predominantly focused on men, women are particularly at risk.
Apparently, research was not even being done on females regarding heart disease until very recently. It was only in 2015 that the Research for All Act was put into place in the United States, which required scientists to use both male and female "animals, cells, and people" when doing research. (Sadick, Time.com)
"it will take several years to get information that will have major impact on how heart research affects women, but already researchers are concluding that women’s hearts are physiologically more complicated than men."(Sadick, Time.com)
I don’t want to suddenly drop dead from a heart attack; I also don't want anyone else to suddenly drop dead from a heart attack. We have the power to change our fate...soooo....
The Good News...
The good news is that lifestyle changes can prevent 80% of heart attacks and strokes. (Sadick, Time.com) That is good news! In fact, it's great news. (You can check out my blog post from Valentine's Day here: https://www.aboutfaithblog.com/post/heart-health-is-self-love-part-1 where I go over the 7 steps to a healthy heart lifestyle.)
The CDC states on their website that “[b]y living a healthy lifestyle, you can help keep your blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar levels normal, and lower your risk for heart disease and heart attack.” (CDC, Heart Disease)
So here's why YOU need to think about your heart. Whether you are young or old, it is important to remember that enormous muscle in your chest and take care of it.
Women Who Have Heart Attacks Recover Less Often Than Men
According to the American Heart Association, women are more likely to die after a heart attack than men because they are usually either not prescribed after-care or, because women are caregivers, and they tend to no take the time to complete their after-care. (Sadick, Time)
At this point in history, women have a higher rate of heart attack than men, which has changed over time, probably because women entered the workforce in full force in the 1980s, and now do a double shift with caring for family and home AND working. (Sadick, Time)
The symptoms of heart attack are also different for women than men. Women can and do experience chest pain, as men do, but they also experience shortness of breath, nausea, vomiting, and back or jaw pain. Because of the lack of research on women and heart disease, they are often misdiagnosed by their doctors, which can be fatal.
Estrogen, Menopause, and Heart Disease: Dispelling the Myth
One surprising fact that I learned was the following:
"the protective cardiovascular benefits of estrogen wanes in older women during menopause. The American Academy of Cardiology says high estrogen levels in women help protect the heart by increasing flexibility of blood vessels and arteries, allowing them to accommodate blood flow." (Rodriguez, usatoday.com)
Sadly, if you google "is it safe to take estrogen after menopause" you will get a cornucopia/plethora of differing opinions. However, I found one doctor in the United Kingdom who explained the whole complicated situation. Here's the link (sharing is caring): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPKsMy3f8sQ
There were two studies. In the first study the women studied were predominantly more than 10 years past menopause, and hormone replacement caused several factors to occur, including some cancers. This is why HRT is not utilized as much anymore. However, another study was done on women who were less than 10 years past menopause, and it was concluded that hormone replacement therapy actually reduced some cancers, and reduced the risk of heart disease. That is encouraging. Please note that there are specific circumstances involved in HRT that must be followed to make it safe, and it is imperative to consult your physician before considering this treatment.
SCAD, or spontaneous coronary artery dissection.
This article, "Meet SCAD, a Major Cause of Heart Attacks in Women 50 and Under" by Natasha Lavender explains what SCAD is.
"First the basics: A heart attack occurs when one or more of the coronary arteries—blood vessels that have the all-important task of delivering oxygen to the heart—become blocked, according to the National Institute on Aging. This causes the part of the heart that doesn’t have enough oxygen to start to die.
In most cases that blood vessel blockage happens because of a disease called atherosclerosis, or a buildup of plaque in your arteries that eventually hardens and constricts blood flow, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) explains. But other times it occurs because of SCAD.
SCAD happens when a tear in an artery wall leads the inner layers of that wall to fill with blood and swell, according to the Mayo Clinic. This swelling compresses the lumen (the hollow part in the center of your artery through which blood travels) until adequate levels of blood can no longer stream through. That lack of blood flow can lead to a medical emergency like a heart attack.
I thought maybe there could be a link between menopause and SCAD, because of the drop in estrogen, but I couldn't find anything on that. SCAD causes about 1 to 4 percent of acute coronary syndrome and most of those are women.
However, it remains that the onus of our health rests on our shoulders and there are certain steps we can all take to prevent heart disease--beginning at any age.
But don't fret, because you can make your heart healthy with a few easy lifestyle changes, which I outlined last time, here: https://www.aboutfaithblog.com/post/heart-health-is-self-love-part-1
Take care,
Faith
REFERENCES:
Lavender, Natasha. (Aug. 22 2019) Meet SCAD, a Major Cause of Heart Attacks in Women 50 and Under, Self.com.
https://www.self.com/story/scad-heart-attack-young-women#:~:text=In%20reality%20every%20year%20an,cause%20issues%20like%20heart%20failure).
Mayo Clinic Staff. (Jan. 14, 2022) Strategies to Prevent Heart Disease, Mayoclinic.org.
Rodriguez, Adrianna. (Nov. 30 2020) Women More Likely Than Men to Die After a Heart Attack, USA Today.com.
Sadick, Barbara. (Apr. 1 2019) Women Die From Heart Attacks More Often Than Men. Here’s Why — and What Doctors Are Doing About It, Time.com https://time.com/5499872/women-heart-disease/ and
https://www.cedars-sinai.org/newsroom/time-women-die-from-heart-attacks-more-often-than-men-heres-why--and-what-doctors-are-doing-about-it/
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