Little is known about job risks for coronary heart disease. Studies have found heart disease in some people may be linked to certain chemical and physical factors such as:
Heart disease is the leading cause of death for women in the United States, killing 292,188 women in 2009 – that’s 1 in every 4 female deaths.
Although heart disease is sometimes thought of as a “man’s disease,” around the same number of women and men die each year of heart disease in the United States.
Despite increase in awareness over the past decade, only 54% of women recognize that heart disease is their number 1 killer.
Almost two-thirds (64%) of women who die suddenly of coronary heart disease have no previous symptoms. Even if you have no symptoms, you may still be at risk for heart disease.
While some women have no symptoms, others experience angina (dull, heavy to sharp chest pain or discomfort), pain in the neck/jaw/throat or pain in the upper abdomen or back. These may occur during rest, begin during physical activity or be triggered by mental stress.
Women are more likely to describe chest pain that is sharp, burning and more frequently have pain in the neck, jaw, throat, abdomen or back.
Sometimes heart disease may be silent and not diagnosed until a woman experiences signs or symptoms of a heart attack, heart failure, an arrhythmia or stroke.
These symptoms may include:
High blood pressure, high LDL cholesterol and smoking are key risk factors for heart disease. About half of Americans (49%) have at least one of these three risk factors.
For more information of women and heart disease, go to the following link :
http://www.cdc.gov/dhdsp/data_statistics/fact_sheets/fs_women_heart.htm
Content source for this article came from: National Center for Disease Control and Prevention at:
