Heart Disease - Men & Women are Not Treated Equally

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in women in the United States.

This fact surprises many of my female patients, who are often more concerned about their risk for breast cancer than their risk for heart disease, yet women have a greater risk of dying from heart disease than from all cancers combined.

According to Harvard Health, currently, in the United States, three million women are living with breast cancer, which causes one in 31 deaths. Almost 50 million women have cardiovascular disease, which causes one in three deaths.

When it comes to heart disease, men and women are not treated equally.

Women are less likely to be treated for high cholesterol.

Many women don’t know they have high cholesterol. A survey by the American Heart Association found that 76 percent of women said they didn’t even know what their cholesterol values were.

For those women with high cholesterol, research has proven that women are less likely than men to be offered treatment. Doctors are less likely to treat women with cholesterol-lowering statins – and are less likely to prescribe at guideline-recommended intensity levels when they do.

Women are likely to fare worse than men after a heart attack.

Women are likely to fare worse than men after a heart attack for several reasons. Research has shown that women are less likely to identify symptoms of a heart attack. What we think of as “classic” symptoms, such as chest pain and pressure, are based primarily on studies of men (women were not routinely included in clinical trials relating to heart disease until the 1990s). Women may be more likely to experience “atypical” symptoms of dizziness or nausea and not realize the symptoms are related to their heart. Women are also less likely to seek emergency health care for such symptoms out of fear of being dismissed. Research has also repeatedly demonstrated that doctors are less likely to recognize symptoms of a heart attack in women, and are less likely to refer women for functional testing such as a stress test.

The bottom line.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in women. Research has repeatedly demonstrated that women are less likely to be treated adequately for high cholesterol and are likely to fare worse after a heart attack. Therefore…

…you need to be your own advocate.

• Know your risk factors for heart disease, and discuss these with your physician.

• Familiarize yourself with the signs and symptoms of a heart attack.

• If you feel you are being dismissed, find another provider.

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Are you ready for a fresh perspective on your health? As a board-certified Integrative & Functional Medicine physician, I can help you “think outside of the box” and dig deeper with a variety of laboratory testing to help uncover the underlying root causes of your symptoms and create a plan personalized for you that goes beyond the prescription pad to incorporate diet/lifestyle change, nutritional supplements, holistic therapies, health coaching and more! Contact us to schedule an appointment or learn more.