Heart Disease Risks and Prevention

Heart disease affects millions of men and women, but recently it has shown to be a big 
problem in women. In fact, heart disease is one of the leading causes of death in older 
women. Now is the time to focus on your heart health and really work on preventing 
such tragedy. Here are some things to know about your risk and what you can do about 
it.

Risk Factors for Heart Disease

Many of these risk factors are far both men and women, while others are specific to 
being a woman. You are already at a high risk for heart disease being a woman, but 
there are risk factors related to your lifestyle, health, genetics, and other factors that 
might increase your risk for heart disease even more. With both men and women, 
common risk factors for heart disease include having diabetes, high blood pressure 
(hypertension), high levels of cholesterol, and being overweight. Lifestyle choices like 
drinking and smoking can also increase your risk. For women, there are also additional 
risk factors, including going through menopause and having complications during 
pregnancy. 

What You Can Do About Your Risk

All women should live a healthy lifestyle and visit their doctor regularly to be examined 
for heart disease and other cardiovascular problems, not just those at a high risk. If you 
want to prevent heart disease, the first thing to do is quit smoking, eat a healthy diet, 
manage your weight, and get regular exercise. These are the basic principles of living a 
long, healthy life. Aside from that, your doctor might advise you to stop taking certain 
medications, look at your family history, and want to perform certain tests to look at 
exactly how high of a risk you have for heart complications. 

Symptoms of a Heart Attack

Even if you do everything you can to prevent heart disease, you may still be at risk. You 
should be aware of the symptoms of a heart attack so you can get emergency medical 
treatment right away. Many women don’t realize they are having a heart attack until it is 
too late. The symptoms may include the common pain in the left arm and shoulder and 
pain in the chest, but there are more subtle symptoms as well. This includes pain in the 
shoulder, neck or jaw, nausea or vomiting, sweating, and being lightheaded. Call your 
doctor if you show these symptoms, but aren’t completely sure it is an emergency. 

