The Heart of the Matter 

Copyright Sandy Long

We hear and read many stories about men who have heart attacks and problems, the ex-vice president even made headline news when his heart acts up. Little is said about women having heart attacks even though the Women’s Heart Foundation reports that:

8 million women in the US are currently living with heart disease; 35,000 are under age of 65. Four million suffer from angina.

435,000 American women have heart attacks annually; 83,000 are under age 65; 35,000 are under 55.

42% of women who have heart attacks die within 1 year, compared to 24% of men.

Under age 50, women’s heart attacks are twice as likely as men’s to be fatal.

\267,000 women die each year from heart attacks, which kill six times as many women as breast cancer. Another 31, 837 women die each year of congestive heart failure, representing 62.6% of all heart failure deaths.

Most of the causes of women’s risk of death from heart attacks are from misdiagnosis. The symptoms of heart attack, though at times similar to men’s; sharp chest pain and numbness in the left arm, differ drastically for many women, including nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, pain the jaw/neck/back, and many times mimic the symptoms of flu. Overall weakness, lightheadedness and shortness of breath are all also common symptoms in women experiencing heart attack.

Diagnosing these symptoms is tricky for doctors. Many women who seek physician care for these symptoms are told to go home and rest or given antibiotics only to have to rush to an emergency room when the symptoms worsen later in the next day or so. Less often than men, women are not prescribed beta blockers or even aspirin making the chances of their survival less than men’s though women have the same benefits from those treatments.

Testing for plaque build up in the arteries and the heart for women also leads to false readings. In men, plaque builds up in clots whereas in women, it smoothly coats the arteries causing the tests to return as normal when in reality, the arteries are too narrow or are blocked. Though angioplasty and the insertion of stents in women is effective, the death rate for women having those procedures is also higher than men.

Again from the Women’s Heart Foundation:

Smoking, diabetes and abnormal blood lipids erase a woman’s estrogen protection.

Women who smoke risk having a heart attack 19 years earlier than non-smoking women.

Women with hypertension experience a risk of developing Chronic Heart Disease 3.5 times that of females with normal blood pressure. High blood pressure is more common in women taking oral contraceptives, especially in obese women.

Women with diabetes have more than double the risk of heart attack than non- diabetic women. Diabetes doubles the risk of a second heart attack in women but not in men.

Diabetes affects many more women than men after the age of 45.

23% of white women, 38% of black women, and 36% Mexican American women are obese. Obesity leads to an increased risk of premature death due to cardiovascular problems like hypertension, stroke and CAD.

Lady drivers tend to be strong women who dislike showing weakness even when feeling unwell. We, like our male driver brothers, deal with stress on a daily basis, don’t eat properly or rest well which can lead to the contributing factors of heart problems. If you experience any of the symptoms noted above, don’t take a chance, dial 911 and get medical attention immediately. Keep a bottle of aspirin with you and while you wait, take one. This has proven effective in mitigating the damage to the heart caused by heart attacks, but do make sure that you tell the EMTs that you have taken one. If you are taking any prescription medications, make sure that either the bottles are sitting out, or keep a list taped to the back side of your cdl.

In today’s world, preventing heart attacks is easier, but one needs be aware there is a problem. If you are in one of the risk categories, then get regular check ups and talk to your family physician about your risk factors and take preventative measures. Don’t rely on the DOT physical to take care of your regular health check ups…it doesn’t replace a yearly physical with a doctor who knows you. Just like the engine of your truck, your heart needs proper maintenance, don’t ignore it.

Ya’ll be safe out there!