Heart Disease Treatment for Women
Heart disease is the leading cause of death in American women over the age of 25. About 42 percent of women who have heart attacks will die, as compared to only 21 percent of men. Heart disease is especially alarming for African American women who are more likely to die from heart disease than Caucasian women.
The heart specialists at MetroSouth Medical Center, leaders in cardiac care for decades in Chicago, are committed to battling this aggressive disease in women.
MetroSouth Medical Center Family Medicine physicians specialize in the determination of a women's risk for heart disease and charting a course of initial treatment. The cardiologists, interventional cardiologists and heart surgeons at MetroSouth are available for more advanced coronary disease, as well as carotid artery disease and peripheral artery disease. Call the Physician Referral Line at 708-489-7925 to schedule an appointment with the appropriate physician, or search our database of family medicine physicians and specialists.
Identifying patients at risk and intervening early is the best medicine for preventing a heart attack or stroke. If you have any of the following risk factors, discuss them with your physician and determine a treatment plan to reverse them, where possible.
- Family history of heart disease
- Age (55 or older for women; 65 and older for men)
- Race/Ethnicity: Hispanic, African American and Native American people are all at greater risk than Caucasian people. These three groups are also more likely to have contributing factors such as obesity, high cholesterol and high blood pressure.
- High blood pressure
- High blood cholesterol
- Diabetes
- Smoking
- Being overweight
- Being physically inactive
It’s critical to understand that women experiencing heart attacks do not always suffer the same symptoms as men. In fact, women can experience all, some or none of the typical early warning signs and symptoms.
Only a doctor can confirm you are having or have experienced a heart attack through an enzyme blood test or an electrocardiogram (EKG).
Acting urgently can save your life. If you think you are having heart attack symptoms, call 911 immediately. Also, crush or chew a full-strength aspirin (swallow with a glass of water) to prevent blood clotting. Getting to the hospital quickly is the best insurance for staying alive and saving your heart. The board-certified emergency room physicians at MetroSouth Medical Cener have significant experience quickly diagnosing and treating patients with heart disese. We are here to help you.
Each woman will present with different signs of a heart attack. Some will show no signs at all. The symptoms to be aware of include:
- Tightness, discomfort, uncomfortable pressure, fullness and squeezing in the center of the chest lasting more than a few minutes or that comes and goes
- Shortness of breath/breathing difficulty
- Nausea or dizziness
- Clammy sweats, paleness or fluttering heart
- Unexplained fatigue, weakness and anxiety
- Stomach pain
- Crushing chest pain
- Pressure or pain that radiates to the shoulders, upper back, jaw, neck or arms
If you’re a woman who experiences no pain or other symptoms during a heart attack, your “silent” attack can only be determined through an EKG or blood enzyme test. Silent attacks are dangerous because they weaken the heart’s ability to withstand another heart attack, even a mild one.
“Silent” heart attacks often accompany a condition known as “silent ischemia” (a long-term shortage of oxygen and blood to the heart because of a slow build-up of plaque in the arteries).
Your chances for having ischemia are higher if you’re a post-menopausal woman and you have at least three risk factors for heart disease. Ask your doctor to perform a cardiac stress test to determine if you have ischemia, or call 708-489-7925 to schedule an appointment with a MetroSouth Medical Center physician.
Indigestion or shortness of breath that accompanies heart muscle pain (angina) is an early warning sign of blocked heart arteries. Because it is not particularly painful, many people ignore it. They shouldn’t. Untreated angina can lead to a heart attack.
The cardiologists and interventional cardiologists at MetroSouth Medical Center offer some of the most advanced treatments available for women with heart disease. Over the past thirty years the team has peformed over 15,000 angioplasties and more than 12,000 open heart surgeries. By choosing to have your heart care at MetroSouth Medical Center you are selecting a highly experienced and compassionate team of physicians, nurses, technicians and therapists. For more information about the treatments available for heart disease at MetroSouth Medical Center, refer to the Heart Disease section of the website.
Call 708-789-7925 to schedule an appointment.