Valentine’s Day may bring to mind heart-shaped boxes filled with chocolates, but please take just a moment today to consider the state of your real heart.
As women, we are somewhat protected from heart disease, at least until menopause. That’s one of the wonderful attributes of having estrogen coursing through our veins. This hormone keeps up our HDL (”good”) cholesterol. Over time, though, especially after menopause, our risk of heart attacks catches up with that of men.
Because more women are living longer, cardiovascular disease has actually surpassed cancer as the No. 1 cause of death among women. According to The American Heart Association, in 2004 around 460,000 women died from heart disease in the United States, compared to 270,000 from all types of cancer (of which 41,000 were from breast cancer).
Since cancer screening and treatment for women have advanced so far, we now need to focus on better screening and prevention of heart disease in women. This goal becomes even more important as our collective girth grows and time for healthy meals and exercise dwindles.
I don’t know about you but, personally, I have yet to sign up for that yoga class, and last month I managed to make exactly one home-cooked dinner. Unfortunately, my own poor habits are all too common. I just happen to be lucky to have genetics on my side - no one in my family has had a heart attack or stroke in their golden years (yet).
During my stint of working in a hospital’s Cardiac Intensive Care Unit, I met plenty of folks who had suffered the agony of a heart attack or stroke or, worse, were admitted again and again to the unit for specialized chronic cardiac care.
Beyond these disorders are all the other associated blood vessel problems, such as narrowing of the carotid artery by plaques (carotid stenosis) or a bulge in the wall of the aorta (aortic aneurysm), conditions that require risky surgeries to prevent life-threatening events.
I can still hear the words of a patient who had severe heart disease: “I wish I could go back and take that cholesterol medicine to have avoided all this.”
The medicines mentioned by this patient, called statins, are certainly capable of changing the future of heart disease. They have been proven to reduce the rate of first and repeat heart attacks. But, starting right now, you can take other, more straightforward steps to avoid such an outcome yourself.
So when you see those adorable silk chocolate boxes this holiday, be reminded that you can care for your own precious heart!
