Heart disease

Heart disease, the No. 1 killer of women, is no longer considered a man's disease. New research suggests that the death rate among women who have heart disease is higher than that for men. After menopause, women begin to develop heart disease and die as a result of it the same rate as men. Black women are more likely to die of heart disease than White women, and surprisingly, women are twice as likely to die from heart disease than any form of cancer. Recently, medical researchers concluded that at least 40 percent of African-Americans have some form of heart disease.

Heart disease is a group of diseases of the heart and the blood vessel system within the heart. Every year, more than 900,000 people die of heart disease; another 1.3 million Americans will experience a nonfatal heart attack. The most prevalent form is coronary heart disease, which affects the coronary arteries or blood vessels within the heart, often causing angina (chest pain) and heart attacks. To prevent heart disease, doctors recommend daily exercise, and eating a diet that is low in saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium.

According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), women often suffer symptoms of heart disease up to a month before experiencing a heart attack. Unlike men, women usually do not experience pressure or pain in the chest during a heart attack. Women tend to have several different physical warning signs of heart damage, including pain in the upper back, chest, neck and jaw, nausea, vomiting, unexplained fatigue, dizziness, cold sweats, anxiety and shortness of breath. Medical experts currently are studying women who previously suffered from heart attacks in an attempt to find predictable patterns of heart disease symptoms.

One new development in the fight against heart disease is the drug called BiDil, a drug to treat heart failure in Blacks, making it the first medicine ever approved for a specific racial group. According to researchers, heart failure is more common in Blacks and other people who are 65 and older. Additionally, statistics say Blacks are likely to develop heart failure symptoms at an earlier age, experience worsening heart failure faster, and they are more likely to die from heart failure than other groups.

COPYRIGHT 2005 Johnson Publishing Co.
COPYRIGHT 2005 Gale Group