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Sex and Heart Disease: You Don’t Know the Half of It

October 30, 2015
by Women's Health Research at Yale

As the ghouls and ghosts prepare to celebrate Halloween, we visited with our neighbors on the streets of New Haven to talk about a real-life killer: cardiovascular disease.

The number one cause of death in the United States, cardiovascular disease kills more women than men, amounting to one in every four female deaths each year.

Women can experience different heart attack symptoms than men. Doctors are less likely to inform young women about their risk for heart disease than men before a heart attack. Only 54 percent of women know that heart disease is the single biggest threat to their lives. Of the women who die suddenly of coronary heart disease, 64 percent had no previous symptoms.

And yet women — 51 percent of the population — remain underrepresented in studies of this most deadly disease.

It’s time to learn the other half of the story. And change practices that endanger women.

Only 54 percent of women know that heart disease is the single biggest threat to their lives.

@WHRYale

This video was supported in part by The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven.


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Submitted by Carissa R Violante on October 30, 2015

To reduce your chances of getting heart disease:

  • Know your blood pressure. Having uncontrolled blood pressure can result in heart disease. High blood pressure has no symptoms so it’s important to have your blood pressure checked regularly.
  • Talk to your healthcare provider about whether you should be tested for diabetes. Having uncontrolled diabetes raises your chances of heart disease.
  • Quit smoking.
  • Discuss checking your cholesterol and triglycerides with your healthcare provider.
  • Make healthy food choices. Being overweight and obese raises your risk of heart disease.
  • Limit alcohol intake to one drink a day.
  • Lower your stress level and find healthy ways to cope with stress.

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention