Women are unique and so are their hearts. Heart disease doesn't just affect men – it affects women too, but in different ways. We spoke with Deborah Sundlof, DO, cardiologist with Lehigh Valley Heart Institute Women's Heart Program to discuss matters of the heart.
Q&A: Women's Heart Health
Q: How are women's heart care needs different?
A: There's a quote I like to say that's actually the title of a book, “Women are not small men.” And it's really true. There are big differences in gender, race and age. It impacts how we care for patients, and women specifically. Women have heart attacks for different reasons. They have different symptoms when they have heart attacks and they have different outcomes as well.
Women are much more likely to have a heart attack from something called SCAD, spontaneous coronary artery dissection, which is a tear of the artery and it is treated very differently than when there is a cholesterol blockage. Also, women can have something called Takotsubo cardiomyopathy, which is a stress-induced heart attack that's seen predominantly in women – even younger women. As a cardiologist, those are things we have to think about.
Q: Are the differences in how women experience heart attack brought on by the way they're raised, the environment they're in or physiology?
A: I think it's more of physiology. One of the interesting things that we've seen is that if you take a transplanted heart from a woman and put it into a man's body, that heart will actually get bigger and the arteries will grow larger over time. There is something different about a woman's body compared to a man's body that makes her heart actually different.
Q: What are some of the signs that someone should see a cardiologist?
A: I always tell people if you have any discomfort between your nose or navel, get it checked out. The typical signs and symptoms of a heart attack are substantial chest pain that's brought on by exertion, relieved with rest and lasts 10-20 minutes. Both men and women are likely to have some sort of chest discomfort if they're having a heart attack, but women are more likely to have some atypical symptoms. So instead of pain in the chest, they may have pain in the upper back, in the jaw or the arm. It's brought on more with emotion than with physical stress. And they may have more shortness of breath and nausea and vomiting, those other symptoms along with the chest discomfort.
Q: What are some universal ways where both sexes can stay heart healthy?
A: It's important for people to know their numbers: Your blood pressure, your cholesterol level, your blood sugar, your body mass index (a calculation based on your height and your weight), as well as your waist circumference. We know that 80 percent of heart attacks can be prevented by modifying those risk factors and leading a healthy lifestyle, not even taking a pill. Putting on a pair of sneakers and going out for a walk and maintaining those healthy habits of exercise, maintaining a healthy weight, eating a healthy diet and not smoking all have a major impact on heart health.
Cardiovascular disease prevention is so important and we're happy to help women in the community stay as healthy as possible. Learn more at LVHN.org/WomensHeart.
Lehigh Valley Health Network | lvhn.org
This post is a sponsored collaboration between Lehigh Valley Health Network and Lehigh Valley Style.
