Women's Heart Health Program
at Scottsdale Healthcare
Heart Disease
In the United States, more women die of cardiovascular disease than from the next four causes of death combined, including all forms of cancer. However, heart disease is largely preventable just by lowering your risk factors. Risks include high cholesterol and blood pressure, smoking, diabetes, high body mass index (BMI), obesity and physical inactivity, stress, birth control pills, alcohol and illegal drug use. The more risk factors you have, the greater your chances of developing heart disease and having a heart attack.
Signs of a heart attack include chest pain, discomfort, pressure, heaviness or squeezing in the center of the chest, pain or discomfort in one or both arms, back, neck, jaw or stomach, shortness of breath with or without chest discomfort, nausea/vomiting, lightheadedness, breaking out into a cold sweat or extreme fatigue or weakness.
To complicate matters further, your symptoms may be different than a man’s. Women often have more subtle symptoms such as fatigue, shortness of breath and jaw pain. Many attribute their heart attack symptoms to something else—delaying the medical care that could prevent further heart damage or even death.
If you have chest discomfort or pain lasting more than 5 minutes,
CALL 9-1-1 IMMEDIATELY. This can be a sign of a heart attack.
Are You 1 in 3?
1 in 3 Adult Deaths are Caused by Heart Disease and Stroke
Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) is the #1 killer of U.S. men and women and claims the lives of more than a half million each year. More people die from heart disease than from all types of cancer combined. Extensive clinical and statistical studies have identified several factors that increase the risk of coronary heart disease and heart attack.
- Major risk factors – Those that research has shown significantly increase the risk of heart and blood vessel (cardiovascular) disease.
- Contributing risk factors – Other factors are associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease, but their significance and prevalence haven’t yet been precisely determined.
- Modifiable risk factors – The American Heart Association has identified several risk factors. Some of them can be modified, treated or controlled, and some can’t.
- Risk calculations – The more risk factors you have, the greater your chance of developing coronary heart disease. Also, the greater the level of each risk factor, the greater the risk. For example, a person with total cholesterol of 300 mg/dL has a greater risk than someone with total cholesterol of 245 mg/dL, even though everyone with total cholesterol greater than 240 is considered high risk.
Major risk factors that cannot be changed such as increasing age, male sex (gender) and heredity (including race) all increase the risk of coronary heart disease and heart attack. The more of these risk factors you have, the greater your chance of developing coronary heart disease. Since you can’t do anything about these risk factors, it’s even more important for you to manage the risk factors that can be changed.
Risk factors that can be managed, treated or controlled are factors such as smoking and tobacco use, high blood cholesterol, high blood pressure, physical inactivity, obesity or overweight and diabetes. These can all be controlled with patients and physicians working together.
Heart Health Evaluation
Scottsdale Healthcare offers a low-cost evaluation that includes:
- Fasting cholesterol profile
- Fasting glucose level
- Blood pressure check
- Waist circumference measurement
- Body mass index calculation
- Framingham Risk Assessment (your 10-year risk of having a heart attack)
Upon completion of your evaluation, risk factors, signs and symptoms for heart disease and stroke will be discussed. Patients identified as high risk will be referred to a cardiologist.
Scottsdale Healthcare’s Heart Health Program offers a personalized evaluation by a Nurse Practitioner. Appointments are 45 – 60 minutes in length. The cost is $20.00