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May 17th
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Her Health: Do not Die of a Broken Heart PDF Print E-mail
Written by Administrator   
Wednesday, 17 March 2010 22:23

So many of us worry about breast cancer, and with good reason: it affects so many women. Most of us are aware of the importance of early screening and detection, and as a result, the advances in survival rates have been remarkable. However, in spite of the wonderful campaigns around cancer awareness, our awareness of heart disease is limited. Many women think heart disease is primarily a man’s disease, and very few of us are aware that cardiovascular disease kills more women than all cancers combined.
If you think heart disease can’t happen to you, consider these statistics:

• Heart disease is the number one killer of men and women.
• Worldwide, half of all women will die of cardiovascular disease.
• More women than men die of cardiovascular disease.
• In the United States alone, 860,000 people a year die of cardiovascular disease.
• Eighty percent of heart disease can be prevented through diet and lifestyle changes.
 


So what exactly is the heart? Physically, it is a muscular pump in the center of our chests that is the source of life. On an emotional level, it is where we feel love. This is why we say, “I’m broken-hearted,” when a love affair ends. Spiritually, many people think of the heart as the center of the soul, the seat of intuition. It is why our hearts feel “heavy” when we are sad.

This may be one of the reasons that depression is as much of a risk factor for heart disease as diabetes. In addition to being an independent risk factor for developing heart disease, depression can also make pre-existing heart disease worse. A recent review by the American College of Cardiology showed that depression increased the morbidity and mortality for people with pre-existing coronary artery disease.

Scientists are now uncovering connections between our states of physical and spiritual well-being and the health of our hearts. It has been discovered that there is a direct way to measure the emotional effects on the heart. Heart rate variability is the tiny difference between heartbeats. Whenever we feel stress, this pattern is irregular. This irregular pattern is call “decreased heart rate variability” and has been connected with heart disease. Mind/body techniques such as meditation, deep breathing, and progressive relaxation help to reduce stress and can improve this heart rate variability pattern. Biofeedback technology now allows us to check heart rate variability and work with patients to see measurable changes with these simple interventions.

How do you know if you are at risk for heart disease? Family history is a very strong risk factor. If you have a parent with heart disease, especially heart disease that occurred at an early age, it is important that you get screened. Other risk factors include elevated blood pressure, diabetes, smoking, obesity, chronic stress, a sedentary lifestyle, and advancing age. Post-menopausal women have a higher risk for the disease than do pre-menopausal women. Vitamin D deficiency, depression, exposure to second-hand smoke, and chronic infections are less well-known but also important risk factors for heart disease.

If you think you are at risk for heart disease, it is important to undergo early detection since many risk factors are reversible. The science of early detection is rapidly changing. It is common knowledge that elevated cholesterol is a strong risk factor for heart disease; however, most people, including many physicians are not aware that half of all patients with heart disease have normal cholesterol. Fortunately, more sophisticated measures are now available.

Women are not just small men. Thankfully, researchers are beginning to recognize that our bodies respond differently to testing and screening. A recent study of women with chest pain demonstrated heart disease in many women with normal cardiac catheterizations, a common procedure in which dye is injected into the arteries that supply blood to the heart. In many people with heart disease, particularly men, a narrowing or blockage of one or more of these arteries is detected. These blockages are caused by plaque build up in the walls of the arteries. Because this test does not always detect heart disease in women, it is suggested that they undergo an additional test called a nuclear stress test. This test actually measures the ability of the blood to reach the heart muscle.

There are also other ways to evaluate your risk for heart disease. A typical screening for heart disease risk factors would include blood pressure, body mass index, waist circumference, and blood work to check a lipid profile and screen for diabetes. In addition to the standard screening tests for cholesterol, there are now blood tests that can identify other risk factors for heart disease. One is an advanced lipid profile and another is a genetic test for the Apo E gene. By evaluating these tests together, a physician can get a more sophisticated assessment of your risk factors for heart disease. Because these tests are relatively new and are often not reimbursed by insurance companies, many physicians do not routinely order them. Pam McDonald, author of the Apo E Gene Diet cautions people who undergo genetic testing for heart disease risk factors to have this testing done as confidentially as possible.

Working with the information from a comprehensive assessment of cardiac risk factors, your physician can make individualized recommendations to reduce them. This usually includes recommendations for dietary changes, increased cardiovascular exercise, stress reduction, and the use of medications as appropriate.

What can you do to decrease your risk for heart disease?
• Know your risk factors
• If you think you may be at risk, seek the care of a physician knowledgeable about the early detection and prevention of heart disease
• Don’t ignore early warning signs. Women with heart disease often have very different symptoms than men.
• Working with your physicians, practice prevention. Maintain a healthy weight. Adopt a heart-healthy diet. One the easiest to adopt is the Mediterranean diet, which consists of lots of fruits and veggies, whole grains, and lean proteins.
• Keep other risk factors controlled. Work with your physician to maintain a healthy blood pressure.
• If you have a family history or otherwise think you are at risk for heart disease, ask you physician to check an advance lipid profile and consider undergoing testing to obtain your Apo E gene type
• Exercise regularly
• After discussing with your doctor, consider taking an aspirin a day along with a fish oil supplement.
• If you are depressed, seek treatment.

By increasing your awareness of heart disease and taking these simple preventive measures, you can avoid being “broken-hearted.”
 

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