Healthy+5Winterspring2024spreadsfinal - Flipbook - Page 10
Heart disease: it’s not the
same for men and women
Learn to recognize what your heart
is trying to tell you
hile heart disease is the leading cause of death
among women in the U.S., causing 1 in 3 deaths
each year, only about half of U.S. women
recognize it is the number one killer. Even more disturbing,
many women don’t even recognize the signs of a heart
incident when it’s happening.
According to Scott Rogge, MD, FACC Medical Director of
Southwestern Vermont Medical Center Cardiology, “One of
the challenges of heart disease and heart attacks is that the
signs can be far more subtle in women than in men. Unlike
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the ‘elephant sitting on your chest feeling’ that’s common
in men and hard to ignore, women sometimes experience
nausea, upper back pain, heart palpitations, and shortness
of breath. It’s much easier to mis-attribute those signs to
other things and, unfortunately, delay getting critical care.”
Know the signs, know your risks
Because heart disease can affect women at any age—in fact,
1 in 5 heart attacks occur in people age 40 or younger—it’s
never too early to learn the signs and take steps to reduce