February is Heart Month so we thought we would take this opportunity to bring you up to date on coronary heart disease in women. Make no mistake about it, coronary heart disease is an equal opportunity killer. In fact, more women die each year from cardiovascular diseases than do men. Whether you are African American, Hispanic or Caucasian, if you are a woman, your number one killer is cardiovascular disease. To put this in perspective, twice as many women die from cardiovascular disease than from all forms of cancer combined. Of these deaths, half will be from heart attack while the remainder will be from stroke, heart failure, high blood pressure and other forms of cardiovascular disease. 

Heart attacks are caused by the sudden blockage of flow in a coronary artery, which supplies the heart muscle with oxygenated blood. These blockages usually occur because a blood clot forms in the presence of atheroslcerotic plaque or hardening of the arteries. Risk factors that increase a woman's risk for developing coronary artery atherosclerosis include high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, cigarette smoking, and a family history of premature coronary heart disease, obesity, physical inactivity and menopause. These risk factors are more common than you might think! For example, one out of five Caucasian or Hispanic women have high blood pressure compared to one out of three African American women. Almost one out of four women also smoke cigarettes. Almost one half of all women have cholesterol values greater than 200 mg/dL. Over five million women have been diagnosed with diabetes and it is estimated that another 2.5 million women have diabetes but don't know it. Twenty-seven percent of women report that they engage in no regular physical activity. Reducing these risk factors clearly reduces risk for heart attack but it takes work! Women need to partner with their health professionals and engage their families and friends to minimize their risk. 

Risk reduction entails both the prevention of heart disease and the diagnosis and treatment of disease once it is present. Common signs of heart attack include chest pain or pressure with radiation to the jaw or arm, shortness of breath, nausea and sweating. The predominant symptom may not be chest pain. It may be shortness of breath or fatigue. Symptoms of a heart attack may be mistaken for a muscle strain, indigestion, anxiety or the flu. Do not take chances by misdiagnosing your own condition. Be safe, not sorry. 

If you have cardiovascular risk factors or symptoms of coronary heart disease, your doctor may suggest a stress test, electron beam tomography scan or angiogram. The evaluations aid in the evaluation of both the presence and severity of coronary artery blockage or stenosis. The most common form of stress testing in women combines treadmill exercise, electrocardiogram and blood pressure monitoring with an imaging test such as echocardiography (sound wave pictures of the heart) or nuclear imaging (x-ray pictures of blood flow). For women, the addition of imaging makes this a better test than treadmill testing alone. If the stress test is abnormal, a cardiac catheterization, in which dye is injected into the coronary arteries directly, is required to define the specific location and severity of the blockages. 

The time to take charge is now. Identify your risk factors, partner with your health care professional to maximize your wellness and spread the news about cardiovascular risk to all the important women in your life. 

For information on Cooper Clinic comprehensive examinations, visit:     http://www.cooperaerobics.com/clinic/Exam.aspx