The Heart of the Matter

Women Have Same Risks As Men After Menopause

February is American Heart Month, and awareness about heart diseases risks is as important for women as it is for men.

"Lots of times we don't think about women having heart disease. We only think of men having heart disease, but after menopause, women have the same risks as men," says Dr. Edith Hickey with Kneibert Clinic. "We always think of things like uterus cancer and breast cancer, but it's heart disease that kills most women."

According to the American Heart Association cardiovascular disease kills more people annually than the next seven leading causes of death combined.

The AHA reported 953,110 Americans died from heart disease in 1997, while 539,577 died of cancer. Over 41 percent of Americans die from heart disease. Heart disease and stroke affect one out of two women.

"Women need to get their blood pressure and cholesterol checked every one to three years after menopause," Dr. Hickey advises.

According to the AHA coronary disease is the No. 1 cause of death among American women. Stroke is the leading cause of serious, long-term disability among women.

But, unlike cancer, which by the time it is diagnosed is often life threatening, the good news about heart disease is that it is largely preventable or the disease process can be reversed.

Two leading preventive measures are exercise and diet, according to an articles printed in AHA Journal. The July 1998 Journal reported,

"Researchers have shown that long-term exercise may help fight atherosclerosis, the disease process that obstructs blood vessels and triggers heart attacks and strokes." The article also listed advantages of short term exercise.

The March 1998 AHA Journal reported, "Whether you are male or female, black or white, old or young, taking out fat in your diet will lower blood cholesterol levels ---and reduce the risk of a heart attack or stroke."

Dr. Hickey agrees. "I recommend a low fat diet, daily exercise, and maintain appropriate weight. These are simple things anybody can do that will help prevent heart disease," she says.

Heart surgery is not the only option for patients with severe heart problems.

According to a Jan. 15, 2001, article in Time magazine, doctors are rethinking treatments for the heart and instead of thinking surgery is the best treatment are now thinking new drugs will help prevent and better treat heart disease.

"They're not by any means ready to abandon surgery, but now they rely more heavily on different types of drugs to treat both the long-term and short-term effects of heart disease," Time reported.

The Time article concludes stating, "Of course, there would be much less need for new medications to treat heart disease if we all exercised more, watched our weight and stopped eating so much food that is high in saturated fat. Public-health experts estimate that you can reduce your risk of heart disease as much as 80 percent by adopting a healthy lifestyle."

Be a Wise Health Consumer

Good Choices Now Can Prevent Trouble Down the Road

Dr. Burton Cox at Kneibert Clinic North discusses what people can do to prevent disease days, weeks, or years down the road.

"Most of our preventive medicine today deals with lifestyles," Dr. Cox says. "It's no secret that tobacco and all its forms is number one or close to the number one health problem along with the abuse of alcoholic beverages and of course, illicit drugs.

"We consume entirely too much highly refined foods and fats. Couple all of that with the fact we're a sedentary society in that we don't do enough good healthful exercise."

Dr. Cox says he doesn't smoke or drink and tries to avoid high fat foods. He recommends that adults who smoke should consider being immunized for pneumococal pneumonia.

"People who smoke are the ones who succumb most readily to pneumonia," he says.

Dr. Cox says it is important for all people to control stress. "People know what stress is," he says. "It's called burning the candle at both ends to achieve things you don't need."

He says people need to learn their limits and to plan their life within those limits.

"We have to learn to say 'no' at times," he says.

According to the Feb. 5, 2001, issue of Time magazine, it's simple to turn your life around; "Eat right. Quit smoking. Get fit. Watch your weight. Drink less. And take it easy."

The article points out results from recent health studies:

-- "Just two weeks ago, a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association concluded that women who consume as little as 8 oz. of fish a week cut their risk of suffering a stroke almost in half.

-- "Laboratory measurements show that eating more fruits, vegetables and fiber changes the blood's sensitivity to insulin within two weeks, helping decrease the risk of diabetes almost immediately. --"Scientists have found that hitherto sedentary 40-year-old women who start walking briskly for half an hour a day, four days a week, enjoy almost the same low risk of heart attack as women who have exercised conscientiously their entire lives.

-- "The day you quit smoking, the carbon monoxide levels in your body drop dramatically. Within a week, your blood becomes less sticky and your risk of dying suddenly from a heart attack starts to decline. Four to five years later, the chance you will have a heart attack falls to nearly that of someone who has never smoked."