Heart Disease in Women-The Number One Women Killer

Heart disease in women is something we all should be aware of and not just women. We can spread the knowledge of the seriousness of the disease to those women that are unaware of the problem of heart disease in women. It's mostly in recent years that there has been more awareness of this problem.

Surveys conducted by the AHA between 1997 and 2003 showed that awareness of heart disease as the leading cause of death in women rose from 30% in 1997 to 46% in 2003. Awareness in white women (55%) was nearly twice as high as among African-American (30%) and Hispanic (27%) women. Data from the Women Veteran Cohort, age 35 and older, showed 42% of women were concerned about heart disease. Only 8% to 20% were aware that coronary artery disease is the major cause of death for women.

To understand the seriousness of heart disease in women, we need to first look at the facts. According to recent studies, it's found that more than 8 million American women are currently living with some form of heart disease. In fact, heart disease is the leading cause of death of American women. More women die of heart disease than any other illness each year.

Coronary Heart Disease (CHD)
According to the most recent study by NHANES in 1999-2004 the prevalence of Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) shows 15.4% of that heart disease in women in the age group 60-79 years of age and 21.6% of CHD heart disease in women over 79 years with it.

Diagnosed heart attacks
In another ARIC: 1987-2000 study it shows Annual number of American women having diagnosed heart attack as follows:
Age 29-44, 10,000
Age 45-64, 88,000
Age 65+ 372,000

Heart disease in women can be diagnosed and treated but the key to staying healthy is prevention. Once a woman finds out that she has heart disease, it may already be too late. Chances are that woman has engaged in several risk factors throughout her lifetime that contributed to her contracting the disease.

Some heart disease risk factors
cigarette smoking
inactivity
high cholesterol
high blood pressure
diabetes
obesity

Such risk factors as these increase the risk of heart disease in women. Most of these mentioned above can be treated without necessarily resorting to medicine. However diabetes does require medical treatment, usually eating the right foods and other restrictions. High cholesterol and high blood pressure may or may not require medical treatment but you should see your doctor for testing and treatment or recommendations.

Women need to understand that these risk factors need to be avoided as much as possible because they are so susceptible to the disease. Heart disease in women doesn't need to be as much of an epidemic it has become. With just a few lifestyle changes, all women can once more live long and healthy lives without the risk for heart disease.

Of course, there are other risk factors that increase the risk for heart disease in women that can't be helped. These risk factors include age, heredity, the effects of menopause, etc. By knowing this, women should arm themselves with as much information as they can so that they can know just what they are dealing with.

Estimated lifetime cost of CHD
For women with non-obstructive CHD enrolled in the Women's Ischemia Syndrome Evaluation (WISE) study of the NHLBI, the average lifetime cost estimate was about $770 000 and ranged from $1.0 to $1.1 million for women with 1-vessel to 3-vessel CHD.

Previous symptoms may be absent
Heart disease in women doesn't need to have such a high morality rate. On the basis of data from the FHS of the NHLBI 64% of women who died suddenly of CHD had no previous symptoms of this disease. This makes it important to be concerned about your heart health, since you may or may not know you have a heart disease problem.

Lifestyle changes can help
By adopting a few lifestyle changes such as getting more exercise, eating right, quitting smoking and reducing stress levels, women can drastically reduce the propensity for heart disease. This is important not only for heart disease but for other diseases as well.

Heart disease in women does claim many lives each and every year but the disease can be manageable and preventable if detected early enough. Women need to study and learn as much as they can. They need to be educated. Not many women know that they have a good probability of getting the disease. By understanding and knowing this, women will have a step up on this horrible disease and, maybe one day, heart disease in women will be a thing of the past.

Copyright © Honey B. Wackx
About the Author

Honey B. Wackx is an aspiring author and software developer. She writes many articles for herself and other website owners.Honey B. likes to dabble in trading stocks and options [http://www.investingdir.com/]. Another is online dating and relationships. Honey B. also likes to cook and would like you to share your cook. [http://www.recipeviewpoint.com]