Heart Attack (cont.)
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:
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.
Next: What are the symptoms of heart attack in women and how is heart attack diagnosed? »
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