“Women are afraid of breast cancer and they die of heart attacks”

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– Women suffer from heart disease differently from men. Unfortunately, their prognosis is worse. The statistics and facts are inexorable: the main cause of death in women is heart disease, although we are usually afraid of breast cancer – says Dr. Joanna Jaroch, a cardiologist.

1. The female heart differs from the male heart both physiologically and anatomically. The effect is other forms of the same cardiovascular disease
2. When a man has a heart attack, he feels pain and immediately loosens his tie and unbuttons the buttons on his shirt. Women experience other symptoms at the time of a heart attack
3. Check your health. Just answer these questions
4. You can find more such stories on the TvoiLokony home page

Heart disease in women. “Would I still be alive?”

Ms. Beata Waniak, mother of three, never smoked a cigarette in her 58-year-old life and avoided alcohol.

The only things that bothered her were a little overweight, hypotension and constant stress, because the prolonged divorce turned out to be not an easy challenge, as was the division of property. Which is even more difficult as, together with the father of her three children, she still runs a large company in the school and office sector, where she is the vice president and shareholder.

One day, when there was a fight with an employee of my ex-husband, the police and ambulance came to the incident.

When the medics measured the woman’s blood pressure, she was diagnosed with a pressure orifice. It is a state in which the pressure values ​​exceed 220/120 mmHg, where it is not the pressure value itself that is particularly important, but the difference between the systolic and diastolic pressure. The higher it is, the more serious the condition is.

– Who knows, if it weren’t for the conscious behavior of the policemen who called the ambulance, I would still be alive. Only the diagnosis made me realize how serious this health problem is. It threatens with a stroke and can be fatal – remembers Beata.

We are afraid of breast cancer and die of a heart attack

On a daily basis, we do not realize that a woman’s heart differs from a man’s heart both physiologically and anatomically. Effect? Other forms of the same cardiovascular diseases, such as heart attack or heart failure.

– Women suffer from heart disease differently and unfortunately their prognosis is worse. They may also die more often because of it, because the statistics and facts are inexorable: in women, heart and vascular disease is the leading cause of death. Usually we are afraid of dying from breast cancer, but we forget that we produce less of the female hormones, or estrogens, during the menopause. And it is they who protect our heart – explains Dr. Joanna Jaroch, cardiologist and head of the Department of Cardiology of the Lower Silesian Specialist Hospital Marciniak in Wrocław. The doctor notes that the signals of an impending infarction are often confused with the changes associated with entering the menopausal age.

“But the good news is, on average, women get sick 10 years later than men,” he adds.

A woman has a different heart attack

A heart attack in a woman is not the image that we stereotypically associate with a man who has a strong, choking pain behind the sternum, radiating up to the lower jaw.

Such a man, usually in a managerial position, immediately loosens his tie and unbuttons his shirt buttons in order to relieve himself. At the time of a heart attack, women experience other symptoms: shortness of breath, a sudden sense of significant weakness. Or ailments that suggest peptic ulcer disease and a whole host of other systemic ailments, she explains cardiologist.

It happens that doctors direct their medical attention not to the diagnosis of coronary heart disease, but to another disease. Meanwhile, in all countries, the number one problem for women is the heart.

– Armed with this knowledge, we can apply prophylaxis. When we enter the menopausal period, which can last several years, we lose the protective role of estrogens and start creating atherosclerosis. This atherosclerosis is due to high blood pressure, which most women will develop during this time. And they don’t know it. They simply do not think of it, ’emphasizes Dr. Jaroch.

The heart of a woman. After fifty to live differently

Other factors that contribute to atherosclerosis, i.e. constrictions in the coronary and cerebral arteries, are elevated cholesterol, onset of diabetes, smoking, and obesity.

– We have to see ourselves as women at high risk of heart disease. We should take action and visit our family doctor who will check if we have high blood pressure, check cholesterol and glucose levels. Your doctor will initiate appropriate treatment and suggest a lifestyle change. And this cannot be overestimated. It is important that we do not smoke and lead an active lifestyle – warns the cardiologist.

Check your heart health. Buy the test package “Heart Control”, which contains 11 tests that check the work of the heart and the functioning of the cardiovascular system

The heart of a woman – prevention first of all

This is why the doctors of the Lower Silesian Specialist Hospital Marciniak in Wrocław, they came up with the idea of ​​organizing a preventive campaign. They called this social action “Women’s Heart”.

– Its main message is: «Take care of yourself now, so that you can live better in the future. And avoid a heart attack or stroke ». Or, simply go to your GP and get tested. We will inform about it on billboards in the city, there will be posters and leaflets in family clinics, as well as a spot disseminated on social media. This is the first campaign on a similar theme in Poland, addressed only to women – emphasizes Dr. Jaroch.

Jokes are over

And Mrs. Beata? Since the pressure crisis, she has been constantly monitoring her blood pressure and is under the constant care of a cardiologist.

– Dr. Joanna Jaroch pressed me against the wall and forced me to start healing. In short military words, she put it with the sentence: “The jokes are over!”. She said I had to change my lifestyle, keep my distance from problems, walk, and walk. Fight for yourself. And to this day she supports me like a woman a woman. I also appreciate that the campaign’s ambassador has been a famous actress, 50-year-old Kinga Preiss, who is just entering this age, which is dangerous for a woman’s heart, sums up the Wroclaw citizen.

This may interest you:

1. You can have a heart attack and don’t know it. Symptoms of a silent heart attack
2. Is wine good for the heart? The cardiologist dispels doubts
3. It is the most common cause of death. 40% die without treatment. sick