In this Article

• What is a heart attack?
• What causes a heart attack?
• What are the symptoms of a heart attack?
• What are the complications of a heart attack?
• What are the risk factors for atherosclerosis and heart attack?
• How is a heart attack diagnosed?
• What about heart attacks in women?
• What are the risk factors for heart attack in women?
• What are the symptoms of heart attack in women and how is heart attack diagnosed?
• What is the treatment for heart attack in women?
• What about hormone therapy and heart attack in women?
• What is new in heart attack?
• Heart Attack At A Glance
• Patient Discussions: Heart attack - Symptoms at Onset of Disease
• Heart Attack Glossary
• Heart Attack Index

What about heart attacks in women?

What are the risk factors for heart attack in women?

Coronary artery disease (CAD) and heart attacks are erroneously believed to occur primarily in men. Although it is true that the prevalence of CAD among women is lower before menopause, the risk of CAD rises in women after menopause. At age 75, a woman's risk for CAD is equal to that of a man's. CAD is the leading cause of death and disability in women after menopause. In fact, a 50-year-old woman faces a 46% risk of developing CAD and a 31% risk of dying from coronary artery disease. In contrast, her probability of contracting and dying from breast cancer is 10% and 3%, respectively.

The risk factors for developing CAD in women are the same as in men and include:

• increased blood cholesterol,
  
  
• high blood pressure,
  
  
• smoking cigarettes,
  
  
• diabetes mellitus, and a
  
  
• family history of coronary heart disease at a young age.

Smoking cigarettes

Even "light" smoking raises the risk of CAD. In one study, middle-aged women who smoked one to 14 cigarettes per day had a twofold increase in strokes (caused by atherosclerosis of the arteries to the brain) whereas those who smoked more than 25 cigarettes per day had a risk of stroke 3.7 fold higher than that of nonsmoking women. Furthermore, the combination of smoking and the use of birth control pills increase the risk of heart attacks even further, especially in women over 35.

Quitting smoking immediately begins to reduce the risk of heart attacks. The risk gradually returns to the same risk of nonsmoking women after several years of not smoking.

Cholesterol treatment guidelines in women

Current NCEP (National Cholesterol Education Program) treatment guidelines for undesirable cholesterol levels are the same for women as for men.

Heart attack - Symptoms at Onset of Disease

The MedicineNet physician editors ask:

The symptoms of heart attack can vary greatly from patient to patient. What were your symptoms at the onset of your disease?

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