NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — February is American Heart Month, and a Riverside Health System cardiologist says women should especially take note of their cardiovascular health.
Riverside Cardiologist and Director of the hospital’s Women’s Heart Center, Dr. Alexandra Ward said Heart disease is the leading cause of death in women.
“One in three women will die of heart disease,” Ward said. “It causes more deaths than Breast cancer and other forms of cancer combined. It's so important to be aware of the risk factors that cause heart disease, and to really work on ways to prevent heart disease from developing.”
Ward also pointed out that women can have different symptoms other than the traditional idea of chest pressure when experiencing a heart attack.
These include shortness of breath, extreme fatigue, feeling hot and sweaty, or even nausea.
“Women particularly need to be aware of this as they tend to present with more symptoms,” Ward said.
“Chest pressure is normally the most common presenting sign in both men and women. However, women have these additional symptoms, in addition to that chest pressure, that sometimes make it hard to say, ‘Oh, wait a minute, it's chest pressure, but all these other things that is a heart attack.’ So definitely women have to be aware of those symptoms of the constellation of symptoms that really do signal, there's something going on, call 911.”
Ward said knowing the signs and symptoms of a heart attack can save your life, but another key in saving lives is prevention and knowing your risk.
In men and women, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, smoking, and obesity can all put you at risk of Heart disease.
“And then there are risk factors that are specific to women,” Ward continued.
”Those include any cardiovascular complications of pregnancy… hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, eclampsia, small for gestational age, preterm birth and peripartum cardiomyopathy in addition to PCOS and autoimmune disease.”
According to Ward, it's important to check in with your doctor about your health regularly.
Throughout the month, Riverside Health System has hosted a weekly virtual series to educate the community on the risks of Heart and Vascular disease.
There’s another series coming up on Thursday via Riverside’s Facebook and YouTube pages.