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Article Series: Heart Health
I Want A Healthy Heart!
Menopause
and Heart Disease
For
women, heart disease is the number one killer. But what’s interesting is that women’s risk of heart
disease is moderately low until after menopause. Suddenly the
risk jumps as women grow older and the hormonal changes of
menopause occur. And scientists still aren’t quite sure what
causes this change.
One reason may be that estrogen provides some protection for
your body from the damaging effects of cholesterol because
the two are chemically similar. But the jury is still out on
that cause. What is certain is that as women age, their
risk for heart disease increases dramatically and it’s important
to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
At one time doctors recommended hormone replacement therapy
as a way to decrease the risk of heart disease. Now, the experts
at the American Heart Association are not recommending hormone
replacement therapy.
This is because hormone replacement therapy causes an increased
risk of breast cancer and in some cases an increased risk of
stroke. In fact, two major studies of hormone replacement therapy
and heart disease were completely halted because the risks
of these other diseases grew so rapidly.
So, what that means for women is that as the risk for heart
disease grows it’s even more important to follow healthy guidelines
for nutrition and physical activity. It’s also important to
get screenings performed by your physician as recommended.
You should also quit smoking and reduce the amount of alcohol
you consume, if any.
Because hormone
replacement therapy isn’t a viable alternative
to decrease your heart disease risk, you should also make sure
to talk with your doctor about cholesterol or blood pressure
lowering medications if lifestyle changes aren’t working for
you. This is especially important if you have a family history
of heart disease.
In addition, it’s critical that women understand the symptoms
of heart disease and heart attack. Women and men have different
symptoms and sometimes women mistake heart problems for other
types of illness.
Symptoms for women include nausea, flu-like symptoms, pain
and pressure in the chest, neck, and jaw, and shortness of
breath. If you experience these symptoms you need to seek medical
treatment right away. It’s always better to be safe than sorry.
Many women ignore these symptoms until it’s too late to stop
a heart attack.
Menopause carries and increased risk of heart disease in women,
but that doesn’t mean you’ll definitely have heart disease
at this time in your life. If you take preventive measures,
you can live a healthy high quality life during and after menopause.
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by SolveYourProblem.com
: 2008
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