What Are Some Examples Of Cardiovascular Diseases – Heart disease affects women of all ages and ethnicities. It is the leading cause of death for women in the world. But many women don’t know they’re at risk. They also don’t know their risk factors and early warning signs may differ from men. Women and people assigned female at birth (AFAB) who learn their risks have the ability to begin to reduce them.
Cardiovascular disease affects women and people assigned female at birth (AFAB) uniquely. Differences between the sexes, such as anatomy, red blood cell count, and hormones appear to influence the experience of cardiovascular disease in men and people assigned male at birth (AMAB) and women and people AFAB.
What Are Some Examples Of Cardiovascular Diseases
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in the United States and worldwide. In 2019, cardiovascular diseases caused 1 in 3 deaths worldwide. That’s almost 18 million people who died from CVD that year alone. In the United States, about 1 in 4 deaths are caused by heart disease, about 659,000 each year.
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Many women do not know that heart disease is seven times more dangerous than breast cancer. In 2018, heart disease killed 300,977 women and men AFAB. In comparison, all types of cancer combined killed 283,721 women and 42,455 of those were caused by breast cancer. Today, cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death for women in the United States.
Every disease is important and deserves attention, awareness and action. But if you don’t understand that heart disease is such a big risk, you won’t know that you need to learn more about it. And you might not start taking steps to reduce your risk.
One study showed that only half of women under 55 who had a heart attack thought they were at risk before the heart attack. However, these same women had many risk factors. They just didn’t know.
Researchers have discovered many sex-related differences in the cardiovascular system. These complex differences, often at the microscopic level, can affect how women and men cope with heart disease. Some examples include:
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Women tend to show symptoms of cardiovascular disease 10 years later than men. With a heart attack, chest pain or discomfort is a common symptom for everyone. But there are some important differences that affect AFAB women and men.
Women and people with AFAB are more likely to have other types of heart attack symptoms, including general chest pain (or chest pain). In addition, they have a high risk of developing a silent heart attack. This is a heart attack that does not show any obvious symptoms. Women over 65 are more likely to die from a silent heart attack than men over 65.
If you experience any of these symptoms for no other known reason, and especially if you have more than one symptom, call 911 right away. A heart attack damages the heart muscle. Every passing minute does more damage. So don’t wait to call.
Many women have warning signs before a heart attack. These are called prodromal symptoms and can occur hours, weeks or even months before a heart attack. An early warning sign of a heart attack is unusual fatigue. If you’re tired that isn’t normal for you, or you can’t identify any other valid reason, call 911.
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These prodromal symptoms occur frequently and may disappear on their own. Women often don’t seek help until symptoms persist or someone notices something is wrong and asks if they are okay. But it’s important to get help as soon as you notice any unusual symptoms so you have a chance of preventing a heart attack.
You may have heard of some of the traditional risk factors for heart disease, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or smoking. These affect everyone. However, research has found that these risk factors have certain gender differences that may put women at greater risk. In addition, women and AFAB people face other risks unique to them.
If women are more likely to have certain risk factors, that means they are more likely to have multiple risk factors at the same time. This puts women in a vulnerable position because the risk factors are compounded. In other words, the more vulnerable you are, the higher your risk of developing heart disease.
You can compare the risk factors for heart disease to the risk of having a puncture. Hitting a single stud on the road can leave you with a flat tire after driving for a while. But you can probably get it done at a repair shop before the tire is completely blown. If you carry more than three or four nails, you can’t get to the store and you’ll have to ask for help.
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Similarly, if you have only one risk factor for heart disease, you may be fine for a long time. But the more you have, the more likely you are to have serious problems sooner rather than later.
To prevent a flat tire, you can try driving around sharp objects when you see them. When it comes to heart disease, research shows that 4 out of 5 cases of heart disease can be prevented. That’s why it’s important to know your risk factors and work with your doctor to avoid them as much as possible.
Women face an increased risk of obesity when they go through menopause. They are also more likely to have abdominal (belly) fat, which is associated with a higher risk of heart disease.
In the United States, 2 out of 3 women and people assigned female at birth are obese. Being obese is more dangerous for women than for men. It increases a woman’s risk of developing coronary heart disease by 64% (compared to 46% for men) and nearly triples a woman’s risk of a heart attack.
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A low level of HDL cholesterol (“good” cholesterol) is more closely associated with death in women than in men age 65 and older. It’s also important to make sure you have a low level of LDL (“bad cholesterol”) cholesterol.
Women with diabetes are two to four times more likely to develop cardiovascular disease than men with diabetes.
Women and AFAB people generally live longer than men and AMAB people, so they are more likely to develop heart problems as they age.
Women over 60 are more likely than men to develop high blood pressure, but are less likely to control it. Women are twice as likely to die from hypertension as men. High blood pressure is more associated with heart attacks in women than in men.
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Exercise appears to help reduce women’s risk even more than men. However, 1 in 4 women in the United States do not exercise at all, and only 1 in 4 exercise enough to reap the benefits.
Because of this risk factor, your relative’s age at diagnosis is important. You have a family history of “premature heart disease” if your parent or sibling was diagnosed before age 55, or if your parent or sibling was diagnosed before age 65.
Women who smoke are more likely to develop cardiovascular disease than men who smoke. Women who smoke are three times more likely to have a heart attack than men who smoke. Yet 1 in 5 women in the United States smokes.
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Women aged 60 and under are twice as likely as men in that group to have symptoms of depression. Women who have a heart attack are more likely than men to have symptoms of depression at the time.
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Women are more likely to suffer from mental and social stress, meaning that their stress comes from work, home, money problems or major life events.
Women make up about 80% of people diagnosed with autoimmune diseases (such as rheumatoid arthritis and lupus) in the United States, and that number is increasing every year. Pregnancy, hormonal changes and stress all contribute to these ailments. Autoimmune diseases greatly increase a person’s risk of heart attacks, heart failure, and other cardiovascular problems.
One study showed that women aged 35 to 44 who had lupus were 50 times more likely to have a heart attack than women their age without lupus. Another study showed that women with rheumatoid arthritis are two to three times more likely to die from cardiovascular disease than those without it.
Sleep apnea is common in both women and men, but many people don’t realize how it affects their risk of cardiovascular disease. Research on women with insomnia has shown that without treatment, these women are at increased risk of high blood pressure, coronary artery disease, stroke, and atrial fibrillation. Sleep apnea treatment is very effective in reducing this risk.
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Preeclampsia greatly increases a person’s risk of developing high blood pressure and/or diabetes mellitus later in life. It increases the risk of stroke. A diagnosis of preeclampsia makes a person 75% more likely to die from cardiovascular disease in the future.
This diagnosis doubles a person’s risk of developing diabetes within four months of giving birth. That risk increases to 21 times if your fasting glucose is at least 121 mg/dL during pregnancy. Gestational diabetes also increases the risk of cardiovascular disease throughout life. People with
