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• Women’s Heart Health

Number One Cause of Death

Heart disease is the number one cause of death for American women and results in more fatalities for women per year than men.

Symptoms

As a female patient, you must discuss your heart health with your primary care physician and have regular checkups. This is especially true if you have been experiencing any of the symptoms associated with heart problems, such as palpitations - the sensation of a skipped beat or a "fluttering" feeling in the chest - as well as skipped, slow, or irregular heartbeats.

More serious symptoms include:

• anxiety
• weakness
• dizziness
• light-headedness
• fainting or near-fainting
• sweating
• shortness of breath
• chest pain

Symptoms (continued)

Chest pain is the most common symptom of a heart attack, but women do not always experience severe pain or any pain during a heart attack. Women must take milder chest pain and various forms of discomfort seriously, as a result, and act quickly by contacting emergency facilities, rather than your primary care physician. Women must also be more aware of their family's heart-related medical history and adjust their lifestyle accordingly.

Risk Factors for Women

Other factors that increase women's risk of heart disease include:

• age
• menopause
• birth control pills
• clotting problems
• diabetes
• diet
• lack of exercise
• high blood pressure
• high cholesterol
• smoking
• obesity

Adjustments such as improving your diet, quitting smoking, and increasing your level of physical activity can help reduce your risk. Awareness of your particular risks and/or symptoms can be crucial in preventing serious damage or death from heart disease.

Physicians and Mid-Level Providers

Thomas G. Thornton, MD, FACC
Joseph P. Malone, MD, FACC
Stephen C. Schreck, MD, FACC
James M. Pacenta, MD, FACC
Stephen C. Wenzke, MD, FACC
Mark E. Krebs, MD, FACC
B.K. Srivastava, MD, FACC
Wayel Azmeh, MD, FACC
Mukul S. Chandra, MD, FACC
Steven R. Jain, MD
Hema L. Pandrangi, MD, FACC
Eddie D. Davenport, MD, FACC
Kathrine Mattingly, RN, MPAS, PA-C
Lisa M. Grow, PA-C
Angel Bailey, MSN, APRN ACNP-BC
Kristin B. Spitznagel, MPAS, PA-C