Affairs of the Heart: How Heart
Disease is Different for Men + Women
Heart disease is the number one killer of women, causing 1 of 3 deaths each year, but
only 1 in 5 American women believe that heart disease is the greatest health threat she
faces. In observance of American Heart Month, learn how heart disease is different for
men and women so you can be on the lookout for sex-specific risks and symptoms.
Knowledge
Many women don't realize
the demographic-specific
risks they face, so they don't
track their blood pressure,
cholesterol, blood sugar and
BMI to stay informed about
their risk level. Here are a
few risk factors to take note
of:
•Taking birth control pills and
smoking increases risk of
heart disease by 20%.
•Major risks for heart disease
and stroke like diabetes,
smoking, high blood pres-
sure, high cholesterol and
obesity are prevalent among
African-Americans to the
extent that 49% of
African-American
•Nausea
•Shortness of breath
•Pain or discomfort in
the stomach, jaw,
back or neck
Symptoms
Men and women can
both experience well-
known heart attack
symptoms like a cold
sweat and gripping chest
pains. Women, howev-
er, can also experience
symptoms that many
don't realize are associ-
ated with heart attacks
including:
When they experience
symptoms, Women are
less likely than men to
call 9-1-1.
women over age 20
have heart disease. De-
spite this, only 1 in 5 Af-
rican-American
women believes she's
personally at risk.
•Latino women are likely
to develop heart disease
10 years earlier than
non-Hispanic women.
With all of these factors,
it's hardly surprising that
since 1984, more wom-
en than men have died
each year from heart
disease and the survival
gap is still widening.
