All other things being equal, men and women have similar chances of developing heart or blood vessel disease. But men and women are likely to develop heart or blood vessel disease at different ages. And there are also differences in survival rates.
Stroke-although stroke is more common in men, more women die from strokes. Both women and men need to pay close attention to sudden body changas that could be symptoms of stroke. And if you notice symptoms, don’t delay in getting help.
High blood pressure-men younger than age 55 have a greater risk of high blood pressure than women of the same age. At age 55, men’s and women’s risks are similar. At age 75 and older, women are more likely to develop high blood pressure than men are.
Heart attack-more men have heart attacks at a younger age. Generally women are about 1O years older than men when they have heart attacks. But heart disease is the number 1 cause of death for both women and men. Researchers used to think that men were at much higher risk of heart disease. Now we know that both men and women are at equal risk for heart and blood vessel disease.
Heart and blood vessel disease-when looking at heart and blood vessels conditions, more women than men die each year. lt’s critica! for both men and women to know the symptoms of heart attack (listed below) and stroke.
To find out more about stroke and its symptoms, high blood pressure, or heart attack, go to the Health Conditions section. You can select and read about one or all three of these conditions.
Blood vessels- one large study recently found that women more often develop plaque in smaller arterias, while men develop plaque in larger arterias. Smaller artery blockages do not show up on an angiogram as well as larger arterias. The angiogram (the standard test for artery blockages) was developed to find blockages in larger arterias. That’s because for many years doctors thought that men were at much greater risk for heart disease than women.
Heart attack-researchers recently found that women notice symptoms earlier than men do. Men usually have symptoms right before or during a heart attack. But women can have symptoms for weeks before the attack. Here are the five most common symptoms that women notice a month or more before the heart attack:
Just before or during a heart attack, men and women also have different symptoms. The common “traditional” warning signs of a heart attack are from research done mostly on men. Now researchers have outlined sorne of the most common symptoms for women too.
| “Traditional” Symptoms During a Heart Attack | Women’s Symptoms During a Heart Attack |
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lt’s good to know a// the common heart attack symptoms. This knowledge might someday help you identify symptoms in yourself, your partner, your family, or your friends.
You can help take control of your health by knowing what risk factors you can change. You can’t change your age, gender, or genetic makeup. But you can modify the following:
Don’t discount the impact that lifestyle factors can have on your health. According to the National lnstitutes of Health, a healthy lifestyle can help lower heart disease risk by 82%. The Risk Factors section has more information about these lifestyle factors- look under Things You Can Change.
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