St. Vincent’s WomenHeart | Women Supporting Women
St. Vincent's has joined forces with WomenHeart, the national coalition for women with heart disease. This peer-led support group meets once a month and covers a wide-range of heart-related topics for women living with heart disease.
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More Common Than You Think
More than 3 million women have a history of heart attack and more women than men die of cardiovascular disease each year. 23% of women and 18% of men will die within one year of a first recognized heart attack.
Symptoms of Heart Disease in Women:
- Women experience very different, and less typical symptoms than men.
- Shortness of breath, nausea, dizziness, vomiting.
- Back or jaw pain, palpitations, cold sweat or paleness.
- Unexplained anxiety, weakness or fatigue.
- Mild flu-like symptoms.
- Trigger is often emotional.
For men symptoms are typically: chest pain with nausea, sweating or shortness of breath, chest pressure, pain in the neck, shoulder and arms. Their trigger is often physical exertion.
Who Is At Risk?
- Cigarette smokers are 2-4 times more likely to develop heart disease than nonsmokers.
- Adult women with total cholesterol of 200 mg/dl. 46% of women have at least this level.
- Women with sedentary lifestyles. Only 32.7% of Caucasian women get regular physical activity.
- 59% of Caucasian women, 78% of Hispanic-American women and 75% of Hispanic-American women are overweight or obese.
- Diabetes is a powerful risk factor for heart disease in women.