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ORIGINAL: Lucylastic

The Surprising Symptoms of Heart Disease: The No. 1 Killer in Women (Video)
Learn what you need to know about this silent killer

The Surprising Symptoms of Heart Disease: The No. 1 Killer in Women (Video)
Heart disease is the No. 1 killer in women, yet many women aren’t familiar with possible symptoms of coronary artery disease (CAD) that should be brought to their primary care physician’s attention.

Heart disease is caused by atherosclerosis, or plaque-clogged arteries that restrict blood flow to the heart. From a biological standpoint, that’s no different in men than it is in women.

However, there are differences in the way women’s blood vessels respond to the atherosclerosis, which can cause some women to present with atypical symptoms of heart disease. While we commonly hear about heart disease causing chest pressure or tightness and shortness of breath, some women may instead experience atypical symptoms such as back pain, rapid heartbeat, nausea or fatigue.

In this video, Leslie Cho, MD, Director of Cleveland Clinic’s Women’s Cardiovascular Center, explains:

I suggest if you want more information on it, you do some research.
https://health.clevelandclinic.org/2015/12/the-surprising-symptoms-of-heart-disease-the-no-1-killer-in-women-video/
https://www.cdc.gov/dhdsp/data_statistics/fact_sheets/fs_women_heart.htm

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Carrie Fisher. George Michael. Alan Thicke. The sudden deaths of the three celebrities from heart issues this month should remind us that coronary artery disease is the No. 1 killer of both men and women in the U.S. And yet we often don’t pay much attention to the threat it poses.

That’s especially true for women, said Dr. Sharonne N. Hayes, a cardiologist and founder of the Women’s Health Clinic at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

“Many women, because of the focus on reproductive health, on breast health, on breast cancer, they think that’s their biggest risk, and that is their main focus on health prevention,” Hayes said.

But in fact, heart attacks kill six times as many women each year as breast cancer, according to the Women’s Heart Foundation. The average age for heart attacks in women is the mid-sixties, but heart attacks can occur in women in their twenties and up.
Heart Issues: All Too Common

Fisher was 60 when she reportedly suffered a massive heart attack (or, possibly, heart failure) on a flight from London to Los Angeles last Friday. The actress and writer, beloved for her role as Princess Leia in the Star Wars series, died Tuesday. (Her mother, Debbie Reynolds, died the following day at age 84, reportedly of a stroke.)

Forty-seven percent of women surveyed as part of a recent study did not know that heart disease is their gender's leading cause of death.

British pop singer Michael died on Christmas Day at 53, also of heart failure, according to his manager. Thicke, a Canadian actor best known for his role in ABC’s Growing Pains, died Dec. 13 of a ruptured aorta, sources said.

Also on Tuesday, it was reported that comedian Garry Shandling died of a blood clot in the heart. Shandling, 66, died March 24 after calling for emergency help at his Los Angeles home. The cause of death announcement was delayed because of toxicology tests and a review of his medical records, reports said.
Don’t Blame Cocaine

In stories about Fisher’s death, media outlets have widely noted that she had a history of illicit drug use, including cocaine. This has fueled speculation that the drugs played a key role in her heart attack.

But that’s highly unlikely, said Dr. C. Noel Bairey Merz, medical director of the Women’s Heart Center at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles. “Drugs and alcohol are not risk factors for heart attacks with a few exceptions: young people who are doing a lot of cocaine, or the freebasing; while doing that, they can have a coronary spasm and a heart attack and die,” she said. “That was not Carrie.” (Bairey Merz has no personal knowledge of Fisher’s health, she acknowledged.)

The fact that Fisher was a woman makes us less likely to think her death was due to simply heart disease — and that’s unfortunate, Bairey Merz said.

“She had heart disease probably for the traditional reasons that most women die of heart disease,” Bairey Merz said. “It’s the leading killer of Americans — why are we shocked?”
Heart Disease: Not a Top Concern

Forty-seven percent of women surveyed as part of a recent study did not know that heart disease is their gender’s leading cause of death, Bairey Merz said. And among those who do know, “very few women think that it’s going to get them,” she said. “Very few women personalize it.”

In fact, Americans’ most feared diseases are cancer and Alzheimer’s, with heart disease lagging far behind, a 2011 survey for the MetLife Foundation revealed.

Even if it doesn’t kill you, heart disease can cause other problems, Bairey Merz said. It’s the leading contributor to disability, such as Alzheimer’s and other dementias, as well as recurrent hospitalizations and large out-of-pocket expenses.
Symptoms of a Heart Attack

These are common symptoms of heart attacks:

Chest pain, pressure or squeezing About two-thirds of men and one-third of women will experience what Bairey Merz calls “the classic Hollywood heart attack,” with pain or discomfort in the chest.
Jaw or arm ache/pain This is more common for women, Bairey Merz said.
Upset stomach or heartburn Women are more likely to ascribe their symptoms to an upset stomach or gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), Bairey Merz said. Doctors more often think that stomach symptoms in women indicate a gall bladder problem, she said. Both women and men may experience nausea and vomiting with a heart attack.
Shortness of breath This symptom is more common in women.
Lightheadedness You may be dizzy or feel as if you are going to pass out.
Sweating You may break out in a cold sweat.

Most people have some symptoms of heart disease in the months leading up to a heart attack, though they may attribute the signs to something else, Hayes said.

One of those is exercise intolerance — which older adults may brush off as simply a byproduct of aging. If you are accustomed to going on walks and find yourself avoiding them, for instance, talk to your doctor, Hayes said.

“The biggest public health message for men and women is: know all the heart attack symptoms and if you have them, then you call 911 — you don’t drive yourself, you don’t ask your spouse to drive you, you don’t call a neighbor,” Hayes said.
Heart Disease Risks

The top risks for heart disease are the following, according to American Heart Association:

Smoking
High cholesterol
High blood pressure
Sedentary lifestyle
Being obese or overweight
Diabetes, especially if not well-controlled
Increasing age
Family history of heart disease

Of course, we have no control over some of those factors, like increasing age. But many heart attacks can be prevented by addressing lifestyle factors, experts say.

“We really could do so much better if we could get women to recognize [heart disease risks] and take some action,” Bairey Merz said.

Medical providers need to do more, too, in the area of prevention, Bairey Merz said. For example, Ob/Gyn doctors should be testing patients’ blood pressure and urging them to stop smoking, because many women don’t see a general practitioner, she said.

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ORIGINAL: Lucylastic

WHile this came from Huff n poo , it offers up more important information
While heart disease encompasses many different conditions, a heart attack occurs when coronary arteries become blocked and oxygenated blood can’t reach the heart. About 735,000 Americans have heart attacks every year, but the signs and risk factors that preface a heart attack can be different for men and women.

General risk factors for heart disease include diabetes, lack of exercise and smoking. But additional clues can help tip women off to their risk, said Dr. Nieca Goldberg, a cardiologist and medical director of the women’s heart program at New York University’s Langone Medical Center.

“Most people are familiar with a pretty typical ‘Hollywood’ type of heart attack, where somebody’s clutching their chest and the pain rolls down their arm or up the neck,” Goldberg said. “And while women may have that classic symptom, many times women have symptoms that don’t scream out ‘heart attack.’”

The best way to prevent cardiac-related deaths is for women to understand their own personal risk factors and be able to recognize the signs of a heart attack, which may be different from a man’s experience.

How heart attacks are different for women

Women may describe their heart attack signs as “flu-like,” with nausea, dizziness, weakness, shortness of breath, fatigue and back pain. While they might feel pain in their torso, it could be off-center or lower down, where it can be mistaken for a stomach issue, Goldberg said.

Women’s heart attack symptoms can be different from men’s because the condition tends to be more diverse in women, says Dr. Jennifer Mieres, a professor of cardiology at the Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine and a spokeswoman for the American Heart Association.

For instance, men are more likely to have an obstruction in their arteries, while in women coronary heart disease is caused by a wide spectrum of issues, including non-obstructive coronary artery disease (a condition where the arteries are not blocked but still don’t transport blood efficiently) or atherosclerosis, which is when the arteries harden and narrow.

Women are likely to put off seeking care for longer than men. One study found that it took a median of 54 hours for the average woman to see a doctor after signs of a heart attack, while men took about 16 hours. Men are also more likely to have heart attacks at an earlier age and survive them, while women are more likely to have heart attacks later on in life, and to die as a result.

Women who are at high risk of heart disease need to learn the more diverse ways that a heart attack can present itself, said Goldberg, so that they don’t waste any time in seeking medical care. In Goldberg’s own practice, she’s seen her female patients sometimes delay calling 911 because they want to spend time looking up symptoms on the web.

Goldberg also advised people who think they’ve had a heart attack to ride to the hospital in an ambulance, because it contains equipment to treat cardiac arrest, which is when the heart stops beating completely.

“I practice in New York City, and when patients tell me they took a taxi to the hospital, it frightens me,” Goldberg said. “You’ve got to call 911.”

How to assess your own risk factors for heart disease

Women also have risk factors that are distinct from those of men. For example, women who develop pre-eclampsia during pregnancy have more than double the risk of heart disease in their later years, compared to women who don’t experience pre-eclampsia. And while both men and women with autoimmune diseases like lupus or rheumatoid arthritis have a heightened risk of heart disease, these diseases are more common in women.

Of course, most risk factors apply to both genders. High cholesterol, triglyceride levels, blood pressure and blood sugar levels, as well as a greater waist circumference, can all increase one’s risk of heart disease. Smoking, excessive drinking and drug use can also increase one’s risk of heart attack and stroke, because they can result in stiffened aortas, hardened heart tissue, heightened blood pressure and plaque buildup in the arteries.

The holiday season is its own risk factor

Research shows that wintertime and the holiday season are linked to an increase of cardiac episodes like heart attacks. Cold air can restrict blood vessels, which prevents oxygenated blood from reaching the heart. The holiday season can also increase one’s risk for cardiac death, perhaps because people tend to travel during this time and might postpone medical care for symptoms that would normally worry them.

Anyone at risk of heart disease needs to take extra precautions this time of year, especially while traveling, Mieres warned.

“The travel climate or the travel milieu can definitely put a patient with risk factors for heart disease at increased risk,” she said.

Mieres, who did not treat Fisher, says she always counsels patients who have a history of heart disease or heart disease risk factors to take special precautions before going on long flights.

Staying sedentary for a long period of time during a flight raises the risk of blood clots for anyone, but it can be especially dangerous for people with pre-exising plaque in their blood vessels. Travelers can mitigate their risks by getting up frequently while in transit, walking around, doing leg exercises, staying well-hydrated and taking an aspirin before the trip to help their blood stay less viscous and less prone to clotting.

How to recognize the early warning signs of a heart attack

While some heart attacks can come completely unexpected, studies show that some people experience more muted symptoms of a heart attack days or even weeks before the real thing. If you think you’ve experienced aches or mild chest pain, but they passed quickly after rest, it’s best to see a doctor to rule out any underlying disease, Goldberg said.

Doctors can perform stress tests or other imaging studies to see if you have coronary disease or narrowed arteries. If they find a blockage, surgeons can open arteries with a stent placement or coronary artery bypass surgery.

“It’s about preventing that first heart attack,” Goldberg said, “and that’s about taking care of risk factors and recognizing the signs and symptoms.”

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As some of the folks on the forums know, I was one of the thousands of women who experienced a heart attack last year.

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ORIGINAL: dcnovice
I didn't not know that, and I'm so sorry to hear it.

How are you doing now?

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ORIGINAL: littleclip

you showed early signs in ak when i pointed them out to you you dismissed them
im sorry for your health troubles
i am not stalking you
i will only come to you when you ask me to
dude get a new grove

quote:

ORIGINAL: littleclip

you showed early signs in ak when i pointed them out to you you dismissed them
im sorry for your health troubles
i am not stalking you
i will only come to you when you ask me to
dude get a new grove

quote:

ORIGINAL: littleclip

i am not stalking you

quote:

ORIGINAL: littleclip

you showed early signs in ak when i pointed them out to you you dismissed them
im sorry for your health troubles
i am not stalking you
i will only come to you when you ask me to
dude get a new grove