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FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO HEART AND BLOOD: VESSEL DISEASE

Given the lack of research on women and heart disease or stroke, questions arise as to the knowledge on which treatment strategies are based. What factors increase a woman’s risk of having a heart attack or stroke? To what extent can we borrow from the heart research performed on men in devising prevention, diagnosis and treatment strategies?

Research that has examined these sorts of questions in women shows that your risk of developing a disease of the heart or blood vessels is higher than average if you have a family history of heart disease, blood clot disorders or strokes; had a hysterectomy before menopause (with or without removal of the ovaries); suffer from high blood pressure; have blood cholesterol that is above average; smoke cigarettes; have diabetes; do not exercise regularly; have a poor diet; or are overweight.

The reassuring thing is that three of the factors on the list — smoking, blood cholesterol and blood pressure – are said to account for as much as 60 per cent of your risk. And each of these factors can be influenced by the kinds of lifestyle changes described in chapter 6. Heart disease risks can decline quite rapidly for the ex-smoker, returning to levels similar to those of a non-smoker in about five years. A balanced diet can lead to a reduction in total cholesterol of about 10 to 15 per cent, which corresponds to a 20 to 30 per cent reduction in the risk of heart disease. In people with very high blood pressure the benefits of antihypertensive treatment are clear, since death rates among those who go untreated are very high.