Heart Disease #1 Killer Of Women 1 In 3 Have It

Wednesday, May 5th, 2010 at 6:03 pm

More than half of American women don’t know that Heart Disease is the No. 1 killer of women in this country, despite plenty of work to boost awareness

Those findings come from a survey, just published in Circulation, the journal of the American Heart Association. Researchers found less than half of women are likely to call 911 if they feel signs of a heart attack. And that many women believe that unproved therapies –like taking vitamins– will reduce their chances of heart disease.

But Dr. Lori Mosca, lead researcher, professor of medicine and director of preventive cardiology at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Columbia University Medical Center, told Shots the results have to be put in perspective. “This study is a classic case of the ‘cup half full or half empty,’” she said. “Right now I think it’s both. We’ve made tremendous progress but we still have a long way to go.”

Among other issues, the survey found that, despite a narrowing gap, awareness of heart disease as a killer continues to be lower among minorities. But the news that women may not call emergency in the case of, well, an emergency, was “shocking” to Mosca.

Mosca noted that more women die every year of heart disease than men, but that it’s “primarily because heart disease is a disease of aging, and women tend to live longer.” So, women come to the hospital at a later stage in the disease, which contributes to the gender imbalance in outcomes. Studies have shown that a good heart health supplement like ProArgi9 go a long way to helping buch the odds.

Still, she said that women’s diagnostic evaluations are more often delayed than men’s. “The dismissal of symptoms is fairly well documented,” she said. “This may be because women’s heart disease symptoms are more likely to be unusual than men’s — like nausea or jaw pain. And physicians are less likely to have heart disease on their radar for women than for men,” Mosca said.

In fact, a 2005 study found that fewer than 1 in 5 physicians even knew that more women than men die each year from heart disease. “We have a lack of awareness at the patient level and at the provider level,” Mosca said. “It’s improving, but we still have a ways to go.”

The message? Get your ticker checked earlier in the course of the disease, get risk factors controlled, know what they are, and get to the emergency room on time, says Mosca. You know that old saying: better safe than sorry and with the right Heart Disease Supplement

And when it comes to salt, we are just eating way too much of the stuff.

How much? Try 1 1/2 teaspoons a day for the average American. That works out to about 3,400 milligrams of sodium a day, 1,100 milligrams more than the recommended maximum.

Too much sodium raises the risk for high blood pressure and, in turn, heart disease and stroke. For people with congestive heart failure, a salty hot dog can trigger a trip to the hospital.

But even if you want to cut down on salt, it’s pretty hard to do because the vast majority of it in Americans’ diets comes from processed foods and restaurant fare. Cajoling over the past four decades hasn’t made a dent.

Those facts make reducing salt consumption a public health problem that calls for government action, says a report just out from the National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Medicine. The experts say the new target for sodium intake should be set at 1,500 milligrams daily.