Wellness Wednesday is sponsored by Intermountain Health.
Women’s heart health is something that hits close to home. In January 15 years ago, my mom collapsed from a heart attack. Thankfully, her life was saved by a quick-acting stranger who knew CPR.
For a long time, we didn't really acknowledge, that women impacted by heart attacks as often as men.
“I think women, you know, typically, they can present differently when they have a heart attack. So, we think about men, and they're portrayed in the media and on movies, as they grab their chest, they have this sharp substernal pain, exactly. And with women, that can be different, the symptoms can be a little bit more vague sometimes. They can also have chest pain, shortness of breath, lightheadedness, unusual tiredness, all those things can also present in women. So it is, it can be different than in men,” said Kendall Nelson, Nurse Practitioner at the Intermountain Heart Health Institute Cardiology Clinic.
With different symptoms, sometimes that means that heart attacks may be harder to identify in women.
“Yes, heart attacks can get missed. Women, we try to take care of other people, right? So, we're taking care of our partners and our children, our neighbors, our friends, but we have to focus on also taking care of ourselves," said Nelson.
Nelson said she loves her job because she’s able to see people improve in the long-term.
“So sometimes the event uncovers disease, and then we have many ways that we can treat that disease and prevent that disease from progressing, which is, is really helpful in the long term, because people can live, you know, long, healthy lives with cardiovascular disease.”
While February is Heart Month, one issue that Nelson wants to make sure everyone knows is that cardiovascular health is important to focus on year-round.
She said, “One in every three women will have cardiovascular disease in their lifetime. A number I find even more profound is that 45% of women aged 20 and older have some form of cardiovascular disease.”
While it doesn’t mean all of these women will have heart attacks, they may have some health complications that are worth looking out for.
Nelson said, “So, it can mean a lot of different things. They have a problem with their heart muscle, they may have a blockage or partial blockage and a heart artery. They may have a heart rhythm issue or a valve issue. So, we're seeing that people are developing these things earlier, or we're identifying them earlier, and so they're having to manage them for longer portions of their life.”
Nelson encourages all women to schedule an annual checkup with a primary care provider to address any risks for heart disease.
You can also take this Healthy Heart Quiz to help assess your risk.
